Still Mountains, Silent Valleys
by Sorabando
Summary: The world has ended. Or, at least, it was thought to have a thousand years ago during a great war. However, no one is sure, for there are no tales of the past remaining. There is nothing left behind but the survivors and a strange, unknown world. What lies beyond? Perhaps Twilight and her friends can find out.
1. Chapter 1 - A Thousand Years Ago

**Still Mountains, Silent Valleys**

**Chapter 1: A Thousand Years Ago**

_Year 0, Day 0_

"I think these roads should be torn up and set with stones properly, again," snorted Lucky Cinnamon (a bright red Pegasus with a yellow mane and sharp yellow eyes) as she trotted up to the pony-drawn cab with her husband and brother, "They are all too rough."

"Oh, wonderful," sighed Autumn Crown (a dark blue Pegasus with a pine green mane and aquamarine eyes), Lucky Cinnamon's husband, "Are we talking about roads again?" He sighed in resignation as he turned to pay the cab-driver-drawer the fare for the travel ahead.

"Look at all of these uneven bumps!" continued Cinnamon, completely ignoring Crown's mutterings, "I mean, I won't be surprised if we hit a pothole that is so large that we topple over completely! Where we will be then, eh?"

"Sister, please calm yourself," interjected Shining Comet (a dark red Unicorn with a dark blue mane and dark eyes), Cinnamon's brother, "We can't have a good time if you always find something to complain about! Come, let us get into the carriage and be on our way."

"Oh, if you insist, Comet," replied Cinnamon, sighing in a rather exaggerated manner, "But while I get in please be a dear and remind me of exactly what we are to be doing. I will admit that I was not at all listening to our travel plans earlier today."

"We need to visit our cousins in the colony of Baltimare today," explained Crown, painstakingly, "They are soon to have a foal."

"Oh, wonderful! Dearie me, I had almost forgotten about the baby!"

"I'm sure you did," muttered Comet. He helped first Cinnamon and then Crown into the carriage. Before he himself got in he gave their surroundings one last glance. They were in Canterlot, just south of the massive shining Castle of Canterlot. Street vendors bustled about on the cobbled street, and smoke rose from mud-and-clay chimneys. The sun was shining bright in the sky, with only wisps of clouds dashing across the dashingly blue sky. Light from the sun reflected brightly off of glass windows, revealing rich merchandise that lay inside like treasure in a chest. A happy and content murmur rose from the masses of busy ponies as they went about on their daily business.

"Personally I will be glad to get out Canterlot," said Cinnamon suddenly, interrupting Comet's final observations of the grand capital of Equestria, "It is simply too crowded and stuffy. I will welcome the fresh, country air."

"There are more reasons that just that to be appreciative of leaving this place," added Crown, a little more seriously, "The Town Criers have been speaking of the invasion pressing closer. Some even say Equestrian forces are making a stand at the Galloping Gorge."

"Oh, and now we are talking about this dull war again?" cried Cinnamon, "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will handle this crises with ease, like they have with all of the others problems that have cropped up over the years!"

"The Shadowed Empire is not something to consider lightly, dear," replied Crown, his face somewhat worried, "I even hear tell those monstrous Changelings have been assisting them from inside Equestrian lines. We could be dealing with a serious problem. A serious problem indeed."

"The Changelings? Those jesters cannot even hope to fight against our fair princesses!" exclaimed Cinnamon, still as jovial as ever, "And, verily, the ladies and I were discussing some intriguing gossip relating to that very elements of military amalgamations! You see, Bright Harp said she heard Lady Twilight Velour saying that she heard from one of the Canterlot Head Guards that King Sombra was attempting to work out some form of alliance with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!"

"Cinnamon's information is actually true, I believe," added Comet, "Some of the guards talked with my friends and me about escorting King Sombra here earlier under the cover of night. It seems the Crystal Empire is in as much danger from the Shadowed Empire and the Changelings as Equestria is. I know you don't agree with Sombra's views on monarchal politics, but few do. But an ally in this war should be welcomed with alacrity at this point."

Crown said nothing, but doubt plagued his eyes, and his brow furrowed worriedly. Cinnamon laughed brightly and snuggled close to her husband.

"Do not worry your head, dear Crown," she said, "Look about us. You see these buildings and that castle? This is Canterlot, the grandest city of Equestria. Not even Manehattan can equate to this glorious place. How can you even imagine those silly Shadowed Soldiers and those dull Changelings marching upon this place?! Equestria will pull through this… It always does."

* * *

_Year 0, Day 12_

"Can these steam engine contraptions take any longer?" whined Rushing Boulder (an earthy brown Earth Pony with a mossy green mane and dark green eyes) as he leaned against the ticket booth, pressing his muzzle into the thin pane of glass that separated him from the pony dispensing tickets for the train from Baltimare to Canterlot.

"I'm sorry, sir, but these trains are liable to be delayed from time-to-time," replied the pretty young female Unicorn from behind the counter, "You will simply have to bide your time."

Undeterred, Boulder pulled out a crumpled letter from his saddlebag and waved the wad of paper in front of the glass for the Unicorn to see. "You see this?" he asked sharply, attempting unsuccessfully to sound like a disgruntled father, "This is a letter from my employer in Canterlot. He said that he recalculated my holiday times, and decided that I have overstayed my vacation! And so he sent me this letter stating that if I was not back at the firm within six days, I was going to be fired. I got it today, but it was sent from Canterlot four days ago! How fast do these trains go, again?"

"If this one is not stopped by the greatly-increased war effort, then it will be here with enough time to take you to Canterlot by the deadline set by your employer, sir," replied the Unicorn.

Boulder groaned again, and seemed like he wanted to keep whining, but he was (fortunately) distracted by a group of ponies who were talking with an Baltimare town crier who had just finished his rounds.

"What is the issue with the transportation to Manehattan, Vanhoover, and the Crystal Empire being completely cut?" exclaimed one disgruntled pony to the town crier.

"The Shadowed Empire apparently cut through our defenses in the northern sections of the Unicorn Range, adjacent to the Smokey Mountain. They – along with the Changeling masses – are right now supposed to be marching southeast to our emplacements in the southern ranges. Due to the fact that the whole northern section of Equestria (aside from Manehattan) is overrun, Canterlot saw fit to cease any attempts for public transportation in that area." replied the crier, almost apologetically.

"Why doesn't anypony seemed worried about this?" cried another pony, who fairly much looked like she was going to faint.

"I do not mean to prematurely create glad expectations for anypony," explained the town crier who was as calm as a cucumber, "But Princess Celestia did indeed released a statement yesterday declaring that King Sombra of the Crystal Empire has formed an alliance with Equestria. Crystal troopers are supposedly en route now to our southern emplacements on the Unicorn Range."

"Excuse me sir!" exclaimed Boulder, "I could not help but overhear that you said you have information pertaining to Celestia making a statement _yesterday_! How is it then that this letter I have in my hoof was sent six days ago, and it takes _four days_ to arrive?! I claim civil injustice and inequality!"

Everypony promptly ignored Boulder.

"So," said yet another pony, looking up at the town crier with apprehensive eyes, "I still don't see how this should affect me going to see my grandmother in Vanhoover! She has rheumatism! What happens if she falls over?"

The town crier shook his head. "I am very sorry indeed, but Canterlot cannot risk sending out steam engines packed with civilians willy-nilly through enemy lines!"

"Is this what this is all about?" cried Boulder, attempting to be heard over the crowds again, "The war? Is that why my letter was delivered in such a grossly sluggish manner?"

Everypony just continued to ignore the disgruntled Earth Pony.

"And what about my dress supplies?" cried another pony from the growing crowd, "I ordered lace and a plethora of sequins absolutely eons ago from Manehattan! I want my money's worth!"

This rather selfish statement sent the rest of the crowd into an uproar over the shutting down of the northern-running railroad systems.

"I wanted a vacation in Tall Tales!"

"I want my sequins!"

"My grandmother probably fell over! I feel it in my bones!"

"My letter arrived four days slower than Celestia's stupid message! I want a refund from the postal system!"

"Everypony please!" shouted the town crier, "I understand that all of you are disgruntled, but you all have to understand how deep Equestria is in this massive war. I know all of you want to be travelling north again, but you will all have to be patient. This alliance with the Crystal Empire only recently was forged, but assuredly good things will result. If all of you will only wait a couple weeks, you will all see the Shadowed Empire and the Changelings vanquished, and the northern-running railroad systems up and running again!"

"He's right!" cried the ticket-dispensing Unicorn from behind the ticket counter, "Our wonderful and beautiful alicorn sisters have never let us down! This war will be nothing but another victory story for the annals of history soon enough!"

* * *

_Year 0, Day 30_

"This rain is dreadful," muttered the carriage-driver-drawer, Bubbling River (a dark purple Earth Pony with a shockingly bright red mane, and an azure pair of eyes), as he trotted up to the massive, shining, iron-wrought gates of Canterlot Castle, "Figures I am the one chosen to perform night duty just because I slept in on Monday by accident."

Dark clouds had gathered heavily in the skies above Canterlot, and massive drops of water were bucketing from the skies above to pound down on the leather top of the carriage and the head of River. The streets were completely abandoned because of this onslaught of water, and, more importantly, because of the threat of a siege that was hanging even more prominently over the heads of the denizens of Canterlot than the rainclouds themselves. Water ran in wide rivulets through the uneven cobblestones of the many paved roads that ran like a gigantic spideweb through Canterlot and Canterlot Castle.

River snorted out droplets of the rainwater as he drew up as close as possible to the overhanging battlements adjacent to the gates. Shaking the rain from his mane, he rapped a hoof sharply against a gigantic steel bar, one of the hundreds that intricately made up the ornate front gates of Canterlot Castle. Rubbing his eyes as if he had been woken from sleep, a Canterlot guard poked his head over the ramparts arching over the gates and called down, "Who goes there? Friend of foe? If ye do not come in peace, then be off forthwith! However, if thou hast the blessing with our fair ladies, then come forth and step in!"

"You must be new here!" shouted up River, unamused by the silly little spiel he had been forced to listen to, courtesy of an obviously green-nosed guard.

There was a pause…

"You can't tell."

River rolled his eyes. "Young sir, I have picked up ponies from these very gates more times than you have had hot dinners. Not a single gate guard has ever said something that long and pompous. You clearly are new here."

There was yet another moment of silence as the guard up above thought of the most cutting comeback.

"I am wearing a uniform."

"Look, sir, I am not amused by your youthful rants. I am glad that someone died and made you 'king' but I really have a job to do. Please open up the gates and let me into the courtyard. The Captain of the Guard requires me to ferry him to downtown Canterlot."

"You can't just bully me like that! I'm a Canterlot Guard! And I'm not glad that someone died and made… you… taxi driver…?"

"You can't even make original insults."

"You're an original insult!"

River did not even attempt to say anything. He simply facehoofed nice and hard. Fortunately for him, another pony came to his rescue: the Captain of the Guard, Shining Night.

"Woah there, private. I know Bubbling River. He is a friend. Go back to your post, I will take it from here."

"Yes sir!"

There was a moment of silence as Shining Night (a bright white unicorn with a royal blue mane and pair of eyes) watched the young guard pony gallop back to his post. Then the captain poked his head over the ramparts and called down, "Greetings Bubbling River! I will be down in an instant!"

Shining Night retracted his head, and in less than a minute he was shoving one of the massive iron doors slightly ajar through the thick, sloppy mud so that he could squeeze through.

"Wonderful weather, eh?" snorted Shining Night, wincing as he glanced up at the ocean's-worth of water pouring down on top of his head.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, sir," replied River orienting his carriage so that Shining Night could scrambled into it with ease.

Shining Night did so with alacrity, and the carriage was on its way. For at least a dozen minutes there was nothing but an uncomfortable silence, but suddenly it was broken by Shining Night, who began to babble rather nervously.

"I must say this weather really reflects the mood that is hanging over the grand courtyards of Canterlot," murmured Shining Night.

River said nothing, but he cocked his head to one side to imply that he was indeed listening to whatever the Captain of the Guard had to say.

"Dark things are going on, I tell you," continued Shining Night, "It's been fourtenn days and not a single pony has seen Princess Luna. Celestia has said nothing on the matter despite our pestering, and Crystal Empire King Sombra keeps to his room in the far eastern towers. Many of the guards have begun to speculate that Luna has gone missing from this land altogether. Banished, fled, eloped… We don't know…"

Shining Night paused to sigh loud and long. River glanced at his old friend, prompting him to continue.

"Either way, mayhap Princess Luna is doing the right thing… By going missing, I mean. I tell you, something terribly dark is going on between King Sombra and Princess Celestia. The two are almost never absent from the Magical Arcaneium. They spend nearly every second of every day working in there, and all the while countless good ponies are dying on the Unicorn Range, fighting against that cursed juggernaut that is those Shadowed Empire ponies and those hideous Changelings. Many guards are even beginning to wonder if we need to actually prepare for a siege upon Canterlot… But Celestia has still said nothing on the matter yet."

River slowly rolled the news over in his head like a foal inspecting an intriguing pebble. After a moment of consideration he said, "King Sombra and Princess Celestia spend almost all of their time in the Magical Arcaneium, you say? Well, I may not know much about the magickas, but I reckon those two are thinking up a spell of sorts."

"Yes! I was actually about to comment on that!" exclaimed Shining Night, leaning his head out of the carriage to look at River, ignoring the water being dumped upon his head by the heavens, "Just yesterday I talked to the court mages. It seems… It seems that they are detecting colossal magical signatures from the Arcaneium. In fact… In fact they are so strong that… that Midnight Lily, the youngest of the mages, died of a magic-induced stroke. That is how strong the magical signatures are. But Princess Celestia will let no pony aside from King Sombra into the building. She says that 'all will be revealed and all will be well in two days' time,' or something like that."

A worried rumble escaped River's throat as this news reached his ears. This was worrisome news indeed. Shining Night continued with his narrative.

"Anyway, it has been an absolute hoof-full in the barracks. The guards, the mages, and even the scholars are thinking of naught but mutiny. As you already know, everypony else in the city seems to think the same. Hence the curfew, the restriction of inter-city travel… The unselective army drafts… Mutiny and panic everywhere… It seems everypony within the walls of Canterlot have lost faith in our fair princesses."

River cocked his head back slightly so that he use one of his eyes to look at Shining Night's worried features. "Have you?"

Shining Night slowly sat back in the water-free environment of the interior of the leather-covered carriage as he murmured, "I do not know, my friend. I heard from the field generals yesterday. The Unicorn Range is total lost cause… and Crystal Empire soldiers never came. But King Sombra is still here, Princess Celestia is being secretive and enigmatic, and the two spend all their time in an Arcaneium that is starting to have a massive influx of magical power. And now Celestia claims all is to be put to rest within the next two days… Well, I went to school, I can put two and two together…"

Shaking off droplets that were running rivulets down his soaking mane, River said, "A spell, I would say. Perhaps something to help with this war?"

Shining Night's eyes brightened. "Of course! King Sombra and Princess Celestia must be creating a spell of sorts to help fight against our enemies! Perhaps even Princess Luna – wherever she may be at this moment – is helping! We must not lose hope. 'All will be well in two days' time.' That must be when the spell will be released. It will be released, and the enemies will be vanquished. Life will go back to normal. Right?"

River looked off into the distance. The cobblestone roads had fairly much become rivers, and dirty water cascaded around and over the polished stones. All cottages visible were shut tight, and not even a small spark of light could be seen from any of the windows. The abodes looked like grotesque faces, with black, dead eyes. All was silent. The hills beyond the grand city of Canterlot were also dark and disturbingly obscured by the falling rain, and the distant rumble of thunder rolled lazily across the water-soaked sky. No lighting was to be seen.

"Right…"

* * *

**Author's Notes. Hello everyone! I shall close off this chapter by explaining why this story exists. I have spent a lot of time exploring many different story genres, and have even contributed to some. However, one of the most intriguing genres I have seen to date is the post-apocalyptic setting. Sadly, this genre has been beaten to death by countless zombie and/or survivor stories. There are a couple of stories that get it right, but for the most part these stories are simply full to the brim with gore, horror, and controversial morality-related subject. Nonetheless, the post-apocalyptic genre is a treasure trove of unseen ideas, and I have wanted to siphon off a bit of that treasure for a while. And so I have decided to take this as a challenge to venture into the post-apocalyptic setting, all the while diverging off the well-trodden path. This post-apocalyptic story will not be about horror, violence, or moral conflict. Instead, this story will be about wonder and discovery. How wondrous is a land that once was, but then was forgotten, only to be discovered again? Think about it. And while you are doing that, do not forget to leave a review! As I have said many times in previous stories: reviews/favorites/follows are the lifeblood of a story!**


	2. Chapter 2 - A Grand Library

**Author's Notes. Hello everyone! Due to the fact that this story is just getting under way, I have very little to say currently other than: thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites! I really appreciate them! Now enjoy the latest chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: A Grand Library**

_Year 1000, Day 0_

"Where is she? She is usually here on time!" exclaimed Twilight Sparkle. She looked about frantically, even going so far to search the bushes near the bank of the pier. She then looked up at the dark, star-filled sky, and then back at the dark silhouette that was the town edge of Canterlot. "She is always here on time!"

Einar chuckled a little as he watched Twilight go a little wild from worry. As she searched the bushes for the umpteenth time, he looked at the sky. The lights from within the town somewhat washed out the pinpricks of light that filled the sky when he looked out his bedroom window every night, but out here, near the Canterlot river, he could see every detail. Vast constellations and breath-taking cosmoses stretched for untold eternities across the serene black canvas of the night sky.

After a moment of breathing in the crisp night air, Einar replied, "Be calm, Twilight. Though I could be wrong, last time I checked Trixie was actually ten minutes late every time we've met."

Twilight stiffened as she remembered that he was completely right. She glanced back at Einar sheepishly and grinned nervously at the navy blue-coated Unicorn (with the mark of the north star upon his flank) as she replied, "Oh, I forgot about that completely. That is true… I guess I just really am too excited about this!"

Twilight skipped in place, as her worries were momentarily overcome with the excitement of what was to come.

Einar blew back a strand of his aquamarine mane as he replied, "I agree with you! If Trixie delivers like usual, our research will be advanced considerably!"

Twilight nodded vigorously. "Oh yes! And imagine… Books! Ancient Books! It's been months since I have seen a single one from the Lost World! But I can't think of another thing for which it is worth waiting. I mean, we have learned so much from what we have managed to procure!"

Einar grimaced a little, his dark purplish-cyan eyes clouding a bit with annoyance. "With that I agree as well… Just not with that last couple we managed to get. I will personally say they were less than stellar."

Twilight could not help but stay excited at this point. "Probably. But I thought that recipe book was really interesting! Who would have thought they found a way to stuff crusts with anemones in a way that did not sound terribly disgusting?"

Einar rolled his eyes. "Last time I checked, recipes were in no way helping us find out more about the Castle of Embers."

Twilight nodded her head slightly, but a ghost of a smile still danced upon her lips, and her eyes were still bright. "True too! But as we said previously, if Trixie is able to find another jackpot, then perhaps we will be able to continue to learn about whatever happened to that massive castle in Canterlot and why no pony can enter it!"

Einar returned the nod. "One of the world's great mysteries. I just wished more ponies shared our interests in such things. I mean, why did Canterlot even have a castle in the first place? Where are the blast marks from? Why in the name of The Lady of Dying Light is there a giant glowing bubble of impenetrable material surrounding the Castle of Embers in the first place?"

Twilight thought about the tirade of questions for a moment. "If you think about it, we really are no closer to learning about the Castle of Embers than we were a couple years ago. We have learned quite a bit about the City of Coulin though!"

Einar sighed lightly. "Yes, but even that strange city, bane of Foal Mountain, is shrouded in the mists of ignorance. It seems to me that the more we uncover, the more we find is obscured by the shadows of time! No pony really knows anything about even Canterlot for Ember's sake! Or anything else for that matter! Were there other towns in this land alongside this one and Ponyville? Mysteries everywhere."

There was a rustling in the trees farther down the bank as a voice echoed out: "Mysteries that Trixie can help reveal… For a price, of course."

Twilight leap at least a meter in the air and whirled about. It was Trixie, trotting across the sand of the bank to the small pier that Einar and Twilight stood upon.

"Trixie! _Gott kvöld_! " exclaimed Twilight, "You're here!"

Trixie nodded as she cantered up to them and tossed a massive pile of bags down beside her. The wooden planks of the pier creaked with the weight of the bags' contents. "Exactly ten minutes late. As Trixie always says: 'if customers are not willing to wait upon Trixie, they are not worth serving'!"

Einar pulled a face. "I think you have the ideals of customer-hospitality all askew, Trixie."

Trixie simply grinned smugly at the Unicorn. "But Trixie is allowed leeway in even that. After all, what other certified scavenger is smart, clever, and brave enough to venture to the foothills of Foal Mountain to find you ancient books? You have how many of those from the Lost World now…? Fourty, isn't it? If Trixie is not mistaken, that is eighty to one hundred percent more than any other pony in Canterlot and Poyville, correct?"

"Yes, yes, we owe you a lot, Trixie," replied Einar, "But we are not here to allow you to guilt trip us into allowing you to inflate the prices. We are here to discuss…"

"Are those some Lost World books?! Can we have them?!" interjected Twilight excitedly, looking over Einar's shoulder, her eyes lingering upon what looked to be a heavily mottled leather casing for some kind of manuscript.

Trixie continued to smile winningly at Einar as she winked at the ecstatic Twilight. "Indeed they are, Twilight Sparkle! Trixie found an interesting one in what looked to be an abandoned town hidden away, having sunken almost completely into the marshes of the foothills. Trixie worked hard to recover these. It was a miracle that this one was even in good shape! Trixie figures it must have been at least a few hundred years younger than the other ones Trixie managed to find a score of months ago."

Einar looked at Trixie curiously and carefully used magic to pick up the book. He gently flipped through the pages, his horn illuminating the rotting and smeared pages with a soft blue light. Though the thing was most certainly suffering from severe water damage and ageing, it was actually shockingly in good shape. Einar's stomach did a somersault with excitement, and he almost began to tremble. He had not seen something so completely devoid of critical damage for years now.

As he handed the book for Twilight to inspect, he turned to Trixie and did his best to keep a poker face on. If Trixie caught on that this book was incredibly valuable, she would be bound to increase the price to obscene levels.

"It is indeed younger, by the markings," said Einar, "The edges are ruined, but for the most part it is in good shape."

"Trixie thought the very same thing," said Trixie, "And so she decided that it was most certainly worth… 1,500 Kolis. But since you are a frequent customer… Trixie will sell it to you at 1,000 Kolis."

Einar's stomach went from somersaulting in excitement to clenching painfully in worry. Even for Trixie, a thousand Kolis was an exorbitant price, at least a seventy percent increase in price since the last time.

"That much?" asked Einar warily, "As I previously stated, this book has suffered heavy water damage around the edges, and the ink is smeared terribly on some pages. Its quality is no more impressive than that of the books you sold us last year. I will go with 700 Kolis."

Trixie sighed dramatically. "Trixie almost died while searching through the marshes for this special book. There were Draugr there. _Elding_… _Trolls_… A set of terribly distressing creatures. Trixie has no life insurance… And thus… 950 Kolis. Remember… Draugr…"

Einar's eyes did not waver. He and Twilight had barely enough together to make such a price, and that would leave them broke for many months to come.

"As I said previously: basing off the quality of this book, what you are asking is too much. I will go with 800."

"Ahhh… Trixie will go with 850 Kolis. And if you try to drop it even a little… Well, I am sure Trixie will eventually find another_ bjáni_ that wants booksas badly… somewhere…"

"Very well," said Einar slowly, his eyes never leaving Trixie's for a moment, "850 Kolis it is."

Einar slowly turned to Twilight and whispered, "Well, we are pretty much officially broke."

Twilight looked up from the pages of the prospective book that she was intently studying. "Don't worry too much about it, Einar. If we continue to work hard, we can make up for it. And if it means anything to you, I believe investing in this book is a brilliant idea. Unlike the last book – that turned out to be nothing but a recipe book, as you recall – this book seems to be some sort of log… I think for the Lost City of Coulin!"

Einar turned back to Trixie, who was waiting expectantly with a greedy hoof outstretched. Einar proceeded to slowly count out 850 Kolis from his and Twilight's money pouches. He put the pile of gold, silver, and copper into a large bag and hefted it in Trixie's general direction.

"_Takk fyrir_, Trixie looks forward to doing business with you two wonderful young ponies again," said Trixie. She dropped the money pouch into one of her many voluminous saddlebags and hoisted the whole lot upon her shoulders. Slowly she began to trot off towards the skyline of Canterlot, humming a little tune.

"I think she mean something more along the lines of 'Trixie looks forward to draining every last Kolis from you two wonderful _young ponies_ again.' And she's not even that much older than us!" muttered Einar, almost indignantly.

Twilight, however, did not seem overly put off from their massive loss in monetary resources. All that mattered to her at that moment was the book that she and Einar had just purchased… and the knowledge hidden within.

"I haven't managed to do much but skim it so far," said Twilight, entering into her Twilight-Study-Mode, "But I have picked out some valuable points. There has indeed been a mention of the Skyfall event."

Einar looked over her shoulder with interest as Twilight flipped to the first page that mentioned that seemingly important term.

"See here?" said Twilight, using her Unicorn horn to both levitate the book and illuminate its ancient pages, "It says: 'The structure of building B has been taken into consideration. As with accordance to the Coulin Council, we must ensure that all buildings are built to withstand an event rivaling the Skyfall, with equivalent exceptionally damaging seismic patterns'…"

Einar cocked his head to one side. "This is indeed that 'Skyfall' event that is talked about in pony lore… That must mean whatever this is, it was made before the First End of the World."

Twilight nodded. "That was what I was thinking! Come, let's take it back to my house. I am all up for pulling an all-nighter reading this. You're welcome to stay with me if you plan to do the same!"

Einar actually grinned for once. "A whole night devoted to reading a book? By The Lady of Dying Light, yes!"

Twilight winked, and then trotted off to Canterlot, with Einar following closely behind.

* * *

_Year 1000, Day 3_

Einar opened his eyes groggily and looked at his surroundings. His muzzle had been squished into the couch that he had been using for a makeshift bed for the last couple days, and his mane was in complete disarray. Rubbing his eyes to push away the sleepiness clouding his mind, Einar recalled the events of last few days.

Ever since he and Twilight had bought that book from scavenger Trixie, the two ponies had been sleeping less and less, spending ever second of their waking time studying and renovating their purchased book with meticulous attention. Einar glanced to his left. Twilight was fast asleep, still with a hoof gently holding one of the leaves of the book. Einar groaned as he eased himself off the couch and collapsed to the ground. Scrambling to all fours, Einar shuffled over to where Twilight had passed out on the hardwood floor.

"First End of the World… The Sleeping… Skyfall… Shattered Moon…" mumbled Twilight quietly, her dreams plagued with the ubiquitous mysteries of the Lost World.

"Hey, Twilight Sparkle, wake up," murmured Einar, shaking his friend lightly, "That book isn't going to read itself."

Twilight opened one eye and looked at Einar with a violet (and sleep deprived) pupil. "Hmmmm?"

Einar plopped himself down beside Twilight and gently rolled her limp body out of the way so that he could have better access to the book. "I will grab us something to eat in a moment. I just need to finish this last passage."

Twilight waved a hoof in the air in a dazed manner. "Oh… Okay… Give me a second. I just need to stop seeing hallucinations of a… comfy… cozy… bed…"

Even at the sound of the term "bed" Einar could not help but yawn loud and long. Twilight immediately followed suit.

"Though most of this part is smudged out, I think I can make out the cataloging of several buildings that did not follow the construction regulations set by the Coulin Council. It seems there was two or three of the older houses, several storerooms, the Grand Library, a guardhouse…" mumbled Einar, leaning close to the page, his bleary eyes struggling to stay open. He failed. His eyes shut slowly and his head flopped down beside the book. He would have almost immediately drifted off to sleep, but there was a loud knock at the door.

"The door's open!" said Twilight as loudly as she could in her lethargic state.

The door handle turned, caught, and was returned to its original position.

"Twily, the door isn't," came the voice of the pony attempting to gain entry. It was Twilight's brother, Shining Armor.

"It isn't?" mumbled Twilight, almost sounding bemused by the statement, "Oh well…"

Einar, now slightly more awake than he had been a moment ago, struggled to all fours again and trotted to the door. He turned the key (which was still in the keyhole) and pulled the door open. Shining Armor immediately trotted in and looked the two ponies inside over.

"Einar… Twily… Have either of you slept _at all_?" he asked, his voice disbelief incarnate.

"I think I slept a couple minutes yesterday," said Einar, his voice a little muddled, "Or was that the night before?"

"You two bookworms will end up killing yourselves by doing this," said Shining Armor, his tone of voice exasperated, "Is this stupid Lost World book so important that neither of you can sleep for fear that it will turn into an Elding and vanish into the cracks?"

"That's absurd," groaned Twilight, "There has never been a shard of evidence ever stating that inanimate objects can suddenly transform into monstrous creatures. You're talking nonsense…"

Shining Armor trotted up to Twilight and slowly rolled her limp body onto his back. "Come on, I'm putting you to bed. Einar, you will be joining her."

"But the book… What if it disintegrates?" mumbled Einar, obviously not thinking clearly.

Shining Armor looked at the book for a moment. "Is it made of sand?"

"… _Nei_…?"

"Then it isn't going anywhere. Come on. Follow me."

His mind in a haze, Einar was barely aware of Shining Armor plopping Twilight down into her bed, and then shoving him muzzle-first into the covers beside her. Though he did not want to fall asleep again and lose precious studying time, the bed and its pleasurably soft covers proved to be overpowering. Einar curled up and began to fall asleep.

"Einar?" murmured Twilight, still on the precipice of sleep, "Did you manage to read anything?"

"Nothing of importance," replied Einar, his vision darkening, "Just several buildings that were going to be put up for renovations."

"Like…?"

"Oh, I think two or three of the older houses, several storerooms, the Grand Library…"

Suddenly Einar was very, very, very awake. A Grand Library. The term "library" meant a place full of books (something rather unheard-of in this current age), and since it was in Coulin that meant it would be brimming with ancient books, revealing secrets of the past…

"There's a library out there!" exclaimed Twilight, who suddenly shot out of the bed, her eyes bright again.

Einar quickly leapt out of bed. "There is!" he cried, "And if there is a library…"

"Then that means Trixie can find it and search it for books!" finished Twilight.

Einar and Twilight fairly much stumbled over each other to reach the door exiting Twilight's bedroom. However, as Einar and Twilight grasped the doorknob simultaneously, the door swung inward, causing the two Unicorns to tumble backwards and land in a heap upon the floor. Shining Armor – the pony that had pushed the door inward – poked his head into the bedroom and grimaced.

"You two are awake _again_?!"

"Big brother!" exclaimed Twilight, untangling herself from a dazed Einar and rushing to her brother's side, "We just realized that the ruins of Coulin have a library hidden within!"

Shining Armor's eyes did not even waver. He was unimpressed. "Coulin. That city is by Foal Mountian, in the middle of the Lost World. It's full of Draugr and the Sleeping. There is no way you can just waltz over there to investigate a library that may or may not even be there. And what's more, aren't Lost World libraries just myths?"

"Don't be ridiculous," exclaimed Einar, getting up from the ground, "Why would something ludicrously impossible and amazing be naught but a mythos?"

Shining Armor stared at Einar. "The phrase that just exited your mouth could pretty much be considered the prime example for the term 'oxymoron'."

"Even if we can't get to Coulin, we know somepony that can!" continued Twilight happily, "Trixie! She is a certified scavenger…"

Twilight's voice trailed off as she realized she said something she shouldn't have. Shining Armor was not supposed to know about Trixie, and the ludicrous deals the two ponies had made with her to get ancient books.

Shining Armor stared at Twilight, his eyes growing exponentially in seriousness. "Trixie the Scavenger?" he reprimanded, "How many times have I told you to stay away from her?"

* * *

**Translations.**

Gott Kvöld. (Good evening.)

Bjáni. (Fool.)

Takk fyrir. (Thank you very much.)

Nei? (No?)

* * *

**Author's Notes. At this time I shall explain what this "translation" thing is all about. As I said last chapter, I am striving to make this story unique. And so, after a bit of thought, I decided to tap into a culture that I actually know quite a bit about: Iceland's culture (well, a core branch-off of North-Germanic to be exact). I can speak the language (though not fluently) and I appreciate its folklore, and so I made the decision to add some components. Not too many, but just enough to give this story a bit of additional "flavor." The ponies in this story will indeed speak Icelandic (and even Finnish, as I am an enthusiast of that nation as well and its weird, weird language). However, Icelandic (and Finnish) will not be the most prevalent language spoken, that, of course, will be English. Think of it like this: someone from a different country has come to live in a land of a different language for many, many, many years. They will speak mostly in that other language, but in times of stress, anger, or tiredness they will revert to their homeland's tongue. This story will be of the same case. Anyway, that is enough babbling for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you think! If you give me a review, I shall give you an "Ancient Book." Imagine: Twilight and Einar would give limbs for one of those, so having one must be pretty special... probably... sort of...**


	3. Chapter 3 - Scavengers

**Author's Notes. ****_Komið þið sæl og blessuð_! ****Well, here we are once again. I actually have a rather large influx of "Still Mountains, Silent Valleys" chapters, so I decided that I will post twice a week (on Tuesday and Thursday) until I have run out of chapters, and then I shall revert to posting once a week or so. Basically it will vary. This story is really written on impulse, and my writing schedule mainly rotates about "A Mending Soul" either way. Now to answer some reviews.**

**To Purple Pizza: Exactly. But then again... Who doesn't get excited about libraries?! Rainbow Dash. That's who.**

**To PBJNachos: Nice to see you come over from "A Mending Soul!" What are the Sleeping? An equally important question is: "What are Draugr?" Either way, I can't tell you just yet. You will have to wait and see... This story is full of mysteries, and all of them shall be revealed in due time!**

**To FocusedStream: Cool! You speak Swedish? I am not neccesarily sure how well we could talk to each other in it (due to the fact Icelandic is not really mutually intelligible with the likes of Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian). The closest I think either language comes together is like in the term "house" in the nominative case... With "heim" in Icelandic and "hem" in Swedish.**

**To Russet Burbanks: Why is Iceland green? Well... compared to most of Europe it is still very icy, so I cannot say much on that subject. Why is Greenland icy? Because Eric the Red wanted the newly discovered land to sound nice! It was a precursor to modern-day false advertising.**

**Now that I have finished with that, I would like to say thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming! And now onto the actual story...**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Scavengers**

_Year 1000, Day 3_

Twilight grinned sheepishly. "Uhhhhh… Thirty seven times?"

"See?!" exclaimed Shining Armor, "You even counted!"

"But Shining Armor," pleaded Einar, attempting to appease Twilight's big brother, "Where else were we going to get books? It's not like Canterlot has a bookstore anywhere. The Lost World is the only place where we can get assets like this! And the only ponies brave enough to traverse the land are Scavengers!"

"You mean insane enough," snapped Shining Armor, brows furrowed, "Why can't you two ponies just find some other hobby that isn't stupid, expensive, and suicidal?!"

"This isn't just a hobby!" cried Einar.

"Even if it is more than a hobby, it isn't worth it," replied Shining Armor, his eyes still stern, "Why can't you two do something else for a change? Get more friends, perhaps? Go on a date?"

Einar pulled a face. "Oh, don't start that again... You know where that leads every time. Circles."

Shining Armor facehoofed. "What would mother say…? Look, ever since you two started asking an endless stream of questions about the Castle of Embers, you two have been in no end of trouble that is all I am saying at this point."

Twilight suddenly decided to tug her big brother over to a nearby window and pointed out of it with a hoof. The sky was a bright blue and the sun was rising over the east ranges in a brilliant display of rich colors. The myriad of massive shards of the moon were just visible over the West Mountains. However, despite these breath-taking visuals, the most outstanding element of the outside world was a massive faintly glowing bubble of gold that stood vigil straight north from Twilight's house. Within the massive bubble of gold was the crumbling ruins of an ancient castle. It had most probably once been a grand sight: a castle of epic proportions, plated and painted in creamy white, gentle purples, and shining golds… But now it was naught but a ruin, blackened and tarnished from age and completely overrun by nature. The centerpiece of Canterlot.

"Look at that, Shiny," said Twilight, her eyes wide, "How can a pony look at that massive bubble of awe-inspiring power and not wonder about its origins. What was the world like before the Skyfall? In fact, what was the world like eons ago before the First End of the World? Imagine… No Sleeping, no Draugr… Prosperity and peace for all. How can one not feel utterly intrigued by the mysteries the Castle of Embers represents?"

"Watch me," said Shining Armor. He looked at the Castle of Embers for a second, and then looked back Twilight. His features had not changed in the slightest.

Twilight could not help but roll her eyes. "That's not fair. You know what I mean."

Shining Armor sighed in resignation. "I can see in your eyes that neither of you intend to change your minds, no matter what I say. Just please be careful, the Scavengers are cunning tricksters, and I am sure you have been extorted out of your life savings more than once by now. I really need to track your bank account, Twily."

Twilight pulled a face. It was her turn to make a somewhat good-natured jab. "You don't have any of the details, though. The money that disappears could simply be a result of me going on a date with a pony you don't know."

Shining Armor could not help but grin a little at this point. "In your dreams Twily. There are two major problems with that statement. First: Einar would kill the pony attempting to woo you. Second: you would get distracted from whatever you were doing with that colt the second a pony came in with a book, and would end up never having time for your bow."

Twilight's eyes brightened. "The book! I totally forgot! Einar, we need to go to Trixie to talk to her about the Grand Library in Coulin! Let's go!"

In a flash the overly-excitable Twilight had seized Einar's right front hoof and dragged him out the door, leaving Shining Armor in the dust. The door slammed shut before Shining Armor managed to finish saying anything else.

"_Andskotinn__…_"

"Slow down Twilight!" cried Einar, who was surprised to find himself nearly tripping over the pavement as he rushed to keep up with Twilight, who was galloping at a break-neck speed from her house. "Do you even know where Trixie could be at this moment?"

Twilight's hooves shot forward as she went into a slide to slow herself down, the air filling with the sound of something akin to tires screeching to a halt. Einar crashed into Twilight promptly, sending the two heads-over-hooves. Twilight was in no way distracted by this, however. Lying on the cold hard pavement, Twilight stroked her chin slowly as she replied, "Hmmmmm… Would Trixie be at the Ember Market?"

Einar rubbed his head as he thought about the suggestion. Ember Market was (as the name implied) a market that resided adjacent to the massive Castle of Embers. It was by far the largest market in Canterlot, and probably would be a prime location to set up shop for a Scavenger. "Yes," he murmured, "I think that would be perfect!"

Einar got up and proceeded to help Twilight up as well. The two quickly dusted themselves off and then continued in the direction of the massive glowing bubble that was the Castle of Embers. As the trotted, Einar looked about at his hometown: Canterlot. The houses around him were generally small, only one or two stories, and made of brick and wood. There were lights in the windows, and smoke rose from the tin or brick chimneys. The town of Canterlot was actually a lot smaller than it seemed from a distance, with the denizens of the town mostly living in concentrated areas around the Castle of Embers. All buildings on the outskirts were generally ruins, aged at least a thousand years. Beyond that was the perimeter, where Canterlot soldiers guarded zealously against anypony that was not a certified scavenger whom was trying to get out… or get in. Einar was pulled from his observations (once again) by Twilight, who nudged him lightly.

"Do you think there might actually be a 'Grand Library' in Coulin?" breathed Twilight, her eyes bright and wide.

Einar shrugged. "Think about it. We have a book that looks dated, but most certainly official. It is scripted in a foreman format, and it states things technically. Note that the writing was describing things within the pages as _a fact_, not as a possibility or a legend. I am nearly one hundred percent sure there is a Grand Library."

Twilight nodded her head. "I thought so. Come on! We are almost there!"

Twilight broke into a gallop once more as they rounded a corner store and the Ember Market came into view. The Market was actually somewhat of a grand affair, with large stalls of steel and cloth set up in clusters by the road. Everything from wares from local shops to oddities from the Lost World were on sale in this place. The murmuring of sales and bartering filled the air as the two ponies drew closer.

"Let's stick together," said Einar, looking about warily, "We wouldn't want to get separated. Knowing Trixie, she will probably be near the outskirts of this market."

Nodding silently, Twilight wordlessly complied with the suggestion and began to look about carefully. Ponies of many types and colors bustled about them, all going about their business of selling their wares by the light of the sun and the bubble that surrounded the Castle of Embers (both of which the merchants promptly ignored as if both were as timeless and normal as the other).

"Twilight!" exclaimed Einar suddenly, grabbing one of Twilight's shoulders with one hoof and pointing with the other. Trixie was languidly loitering near the edge of the massive Castle of Embers with her pile of saddlebags full to the brim with items from the Lost World.

Twilight and Einar quickly galloped over to where Trixie sat. Trixie lazily glanced up at them, considering them curiously from beneath the brim of a massive blue wizard's hat.

"Ahhhh… _Gòðan daginn_. What can Trixie do for you?"

"We were wondering if you would take a scavenging commission from us," said Einar, looking at Trixie hopefully.

Trixie cocked her head to one side. "It would cost you quite the amount of coin for such a thing. But Trixie digresses and admits that she is indeed interested in what you have to say. Go on."

Einar glanced at Twilight, prompting her to explain further. "In the last book we bought from you there were some logs describing the existence of a library."

Trixie's eyes lit up with the idea. Though most ponies had little to no interest in Lost World books these days, a library from ancient times was a thing of legend nonetheless, so the idea of one being accessible was favorable in any account. "Indeed? Trixie is interested. Do go on."

Twilight nodded her head vigorously. "Well, luckily for you… we have an exact location! It's not far from the Foal Mountains, your regular scavenging route! It's in the City of Coulin!"

Trixie's eyes shrunk to pinpricks for a moment, but then they returned to normal and narrowed… then she burst out laughing. Twilight blinked. "Did I… Did I say something funny?"

"_Ertu að djóka__? _Oh, Twilight Sparkle, you're _Jólasveinn_. Going to Coulin? That idea is absurd beyond Trixie's imagination!"

Einar was not in the mood to listen to Trixie laugh at his friend, so he snapped, "What in the world are you talking about? What is so ridiculous about venturing to Coulin?"

Trixie wiped away an imaginary tear before responding. "Oh, forgive Trixie. She will word this in the simplest way possible: no amount of Kolins in the whole of the Lost World could ever begin to convince Trixie to go to Coulin."

Twilight, not deterred by being laughed at in any way, cocked her head to one side. "Why?"

Trixie sighed loud and long as she thought of a response. After a lengthy pause she finally started talking. "Trixie will tell you… But consider yourselves lucky, for Scavenger Lore generally stays with us solely. Rarely does a Scavenger ever consider sharing their knowledge the average _fífl_. Trixie shall tell you… The City of Coulin was made many years ago, yes? However, it was younger than towns like Canterlot, Trixie thinks, for it was made after the First End of the World but just before the Skyfall as many books say. When the Konugar Ponies first started to construct Coulin – also after the Konugar migration from Manehattan, the City of Stars, Trixie believes – they dug deep into the core of the earth to lay the foundations. But they dug too deep, and upturned the nest of primordial Draugr… A great Risi, Suthnur the Corrupted. Though it gathered its strength for many a year, Suthnur eventually rose up and destroyed everything and everypony. As Scavenger Lore states, Suthnur still resides within the cursed ruins, attempting to return to the state of sleep it had been in before the Konugar disrupted it with their foolish building of Coulin. Anypony venturing even a score of kilometers near Coulin now risks awakening the great Risi Suthnur and evoking its ornery wrath."

Einar blinked in shock. He had had no idea that Trixie possessed such an extensive knowledge of any lore. He thought that he and Twilight were fairly much the only ones who knew of the mythical Konugar, let alone the Draugr Risar. The shock made him bumble a little as he attempted to blow off the tale of fear. "That's dumb. You're dumb! Everypony knows that those Konugar Ponies never existed, same with Manehattan. They are all just myths!"

Trixie rolled her eyes scathingly. "Look who is saying that. Trixie recalls a certain pony named Einar spouting about how many things that were thought to be myths of the Lost World were indeed real."

Einar bit his bottom lip a bit as he thought of a response for a bit, then replied with something a bit more scientific. "Well… According to some of the things Twilight and I have read, it seems that Draugr are agitated by Pony-made structures. If a Risi did indeed come up to destroy Coulin, it would not have stayed long after. It would have left!"

Trixie's eyes did not even blink as she immediately replied, "Trixie is not willing to take such a risk. Her word is final."

Einar opened his mouth to argue, but Twilight tapped his shoulder, drawing him away.

"What is it?" asked Einar, a little irritably, "There is a Grand Library out there! A freaking Grand Library! How can Trixie pass up a chance of a lifetime like this?! _Andskotinn!_"

"It's no use, Einar," sighed Twilight, eyes downcast, "She has made it clear: she is not going to venture anywhere near Coulin. We have to give it up…"

"What are we to do then?" sighed Einar.

"I don't know," replied Twilight in a downhearted manner.

Einar's ears drooped with Twilight's. What was he to do? There were no other certified Scavengers willing to go anywhere near Foal Mountain, let alone into the ruins of Coulin. The only way he could ever get those books now was if he became a Scavenger and walked there himself. But that was insane and impossible… Or was it…? Einar's ears perked up, and so did Twilight as she suddenly thought of something as well. Einar quickly whirled to Twilight, who did the same to him, and they both exclaimed simultaneously, "We could become Scavengers!"

Twilight hopped in place a bit and squealed quietly. "Oooooh! This is such a good idea! We could look for hidden Lost World treasures till our hearts' content, have adventures, get to keep the stuff we find, and even get paid for it!"

Einar nodded his head readily and quickly made a roundabout turn to talk to Trixie again. "Trixie," Einar said, his tone of voice jovial once more, "How did you become a certified Scavenger?"

Trixie blinked in surprise, and then her eyes widened when she guessed his motives for asking such a question. "How Trixie became a certified Scavenger…? What? Oh… No. No. No! Trixie knows what you are planning, and she will tell you right now that is naught but a fool's errand!"

Einar's eyes hardened. "That is for Twilight and I to decide, thank you. How did you become a Scavenger?"

Trixie facehoofed. She then proceeded to slowly drag the hoof down her face as she groaned. "Methinks Trixie should be charging for the amount of information she has given out today… Very well. Trixie expressed her interest in venturing into the Lost World to the king's court. King Baldur has little interest in how we ponies expend our lives, so the work to become a suicidal scavenger is small. Some forms, a will, and a paper declaring that twenty percent of all items retrieved from the Lost World found to possess intrinsic value belong to King Baldur. You then receive a small amount of money for incentive – though Trixie thinks it is more of a pity payment: an apology in advance for our certain demise."

Though Trixie placed stress on the fact that Scavengers were almost always projected to die, all of those things went straight over Einar's and Twilight's heads. "Great!" exclaimed Twilight, her eyes bright with hope, "That will allow us to start on our journey sooner! Come on, Einar! Let's go back home! We can talk more about us becoming Scavengers there! Let's go!"

Twilight practically pranced off, her mind filled with possible adventures and exploits as she bravely fought through oceans of Draugr to reach the "glorious" Grand Library. Even the more level-minded Einar was visible excited by the possibility of exploration in the mysterious Lost World.

Trixie shook her head and muttered one word: "_Heimskingjar_."

Shining Armor was sitting in Twilight's armchair, looking over the recipe book that Twilight and Einar had procured from Trixie approximately a year ago, when Twilight burst in with Einar right behind. Shining Armor glanced up and said, "Twily, did you _buy_ this? It's absurd! It's nothing but a compilation of useless information about foods we haven't seen in ages!"

"Big brother!" exclaimed Twilight, "Einar and I have come up with a brilliant idea. You will no longer have to worry about me spending money on books, because now we are going to become Scavengers and look for the books ourselves!"

Shining Armor dropped the book, and only a quick burst of magic from Einar's horn prevented the thousand-year tome from striking the hardwood floor.

"Scavengers?!" exclaimed Shining Armor, his eyes wide with shock. "Scavengers?! _Hvaða fáviti ertu_?! Who gave you this absurd idea?!"

Twilight was somewhat cowed by Shining Armor's outburst, but she could not help but say, "We thought of it! Trixie refused to go to Coulin to look for the library, so Einar and I decided we should go look for it ourselves."

"I… I will admit that it _will_ be dangerous," added Einar, noticing how much in shock Twilight's big brother was.

"You're completely right! It _will_ be dangerous! Einar, you have a level head on your shoulders, tell Twily how _stupid_ this is!"

Einar grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his mane nervously. "Well… Shining Armor… We kind of thought up the idea together. However, if you will calm down for a moment, perhaps we can discuss this. I understand that you are worried for Twilight, but yelling will get you nowhere, you understand?"

Something about the way Einar said those words calmed Shining Armor down considerably. He sighed and settled down in Twilight's armchair. "I'm not just worried for Twilight, Einar. I'm also worried about you. Imagine what would happen to either of you mentally if the other died?"

"Shining Armor, if I was wandering the Lost World with your sister, I would never let her out of my sight. And I am sure she would say the same for me. However, I do believe Twilight and I could actually say the very same thing to you as well. You are the Captain of the Guard for King Baldur. You lead the perimeter soldiers for Canterlot, and you have to fend off against Draugr every day! You are risking death every single second you are out there and never give a single thought about what would happen to us if you die. But when you hear we want to do something similar, you blow your top!"

Shining Armor actually winced. Einar was spot-on with his reasoning. After a moment of thought, he responded. "You are right, Einar… But I am the eldest of us three. I have a responsibility to keep us all safe, and I will perform that responsibility to my last breath."

"You can't keep us safe forever, Shiny," replied Twilight gently, "You know me. I'm a bookworm. But I can't just sit here when I know there is an ocean of knowledge hidden out there in the Lost World! I can't live my life here, cooped up in this house with nothing to do! You understand… don't you?"

"Your sister is right," added Einar, "Many ponies are content with living their lives here in this small town in peaceful monotony… But we can't. We've learned too much. We need to discover what is out there."

Shining Armor almost looked as if he was about to shake his head mournfully, but then he simply said, "You are right, Einar. You are right, Twilight. If this is what you want to do, then I will be the last to stop you. But please… please be careful."

Twilight seized Shining Armor in a tight hug. "Thanks, big brother!"

Einar nodded. "Yes, I am glad we have your blessing."

Twilight released Shining Armor and turned to Einar, her eyes bright with excitement. "Come on! Let's go to the king's court!"

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**Translations.**

Komið þið sæl og blessuð. (Hello. [This is used to address a group of people of mixed gender.])

Andskotinn. (Damn. [However, this literally translates into "the devil."])

Hvaða fáviti ertu? (What kind of idiot are you?)

Gòðan daginn. (Good morning.)

Ertu að djóka? (Are you joking?)

Jólasveinn. (Buffoon. [This last word literally translates into "Santa Claus." However, Icelandic lore has 13 Santa Claus creatures, all of them being nasty, impish pranksters, so calling someone this is like calling someone a silly fool or an imp.])

Fífl. (Idiot.)

Heimskingjar. (Fools.)

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**Author's Notes. Ooooh... More mysteries have popped up! What are Risar? What happened in Coulin, specifically? And where are all the zombies? Does this story even have proper zombies? You shall all have to wait to find out. And while you are at it, why not leave a review? If you leave a review... I may just help you escape from the zombies outside on your front lawn. Yes. During the time it took for you to read this chapter a zombie apocalypse started. Turns out the infecting virus came from space. Aliens.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Complications

**Author's Notes. _Hæ!_ How is everyone doing? I have not much else to say other than I appreciate all the attention this story has been getting. It has been a real blast to write this for you guys, so seeing it receive reviews and the likes is quite encouraging. Speaking of reviews, I believe it is time to answer a few.**

**To Midnight Moon: I know who you are, The Federation Justice. You can't trick me by changing your name! Oooohhh... There could be a plot twist. What if the "first end of the world" as these ponies call it actually came from a Fed orbital bombardment? Food for thought.**

**To Russet Burbanks: I think you are a bit behind the times! Unless by "soon" you meant "the initial outbreak happened about a thousand years ago." And yes, ponies are pony-made things, and so the Draugr will be agitated if a pony draws near.**

**To FocusedStream: That's not the plural of Jolasveinn. Just saying. But I digress! I will keep on writing just as you say! Oh, as for music... Hmmmm... Actually, the song I usually think of for this story is really unusual. I don't think of depressing or harrowing musics for this song. For me, the theme song would probably be something like "Everything's Alright" by Laura Shigihara. I feel like that song capture's the mystical wonder that will be wrought into this adventure.**

**To PBJNachos: I might do that... when the story is completed. One of the major components of this story (as I have stated previously) is wonder and mystery. A lot of the lore of this story will be scattered in intruiging tidbits throughout the whole adventure. If you pay close attention to the ramblings and conversations of ponies in this story, you will be able to figure out exactly what happened in the past. There truly are many things to figure out. What are the Draugr? What are the Sleeping? Who are the Konugar? What was the Skyfall event?**

**That is all I have for now! Now enjoy the latest chapter!**

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**Chapter 4: Complications**

_Year 1000, Day 3_

Einar exited Twilight's house, with Twilight and Shining Armor right behind him. It took them only an hour or so to make their way to the other side of town, where Baldur's mansion and court were situated. The king's court was nothing grand – especially when compared to the glorious proportions of the ruins of the Castle of Embers – but it was still impressive. Made completely of stone marble, the white building was at least twice the size of the average house, and twelve times as long. Guards clad in steel and Kevlar patrolled the entrance, armed with rifles.

Looking about carefully, Einar could not help but comment, "I can see that the king is not taking any chances. Has there been an increased threat of Draugr recently, or something?"

Shining Armor shrugged as he saluted to a nearby guard. "Something like that," he said, "Twelve Elding and seven Trolls were spotted in a group to the west, apparently. _Seven_ whole Trolls. That is bad news to say the least."

Shining Armor stopped talking as they strolled up to the front door of the king's court. An armed guard standing beside the large wooden door barred their way. However, he quickly moved aside as he recognized Shining Armor. "Greetings, captain," said the guard, "What brings you here today? More news of the Draugr spotted in the west?"

Shining Armor shook his head. "No. I am doing something else of relative importance. Good day to you, solider."

Shining Armor now took the lead, trotting into the vast halls with Einar and Twilight in pursuit. In the middle of the hall they were in was a small counter with the words "info" on it. A female Earth Pony with a light gray amber coat, cornflower bluish gray mane, blue eyes, and thick-rimmed glasses sat behind the counter, flipping through a deck of cards.

"Hello, Mrs. Mare," said Shining Armor, trotting up to the counter, "It is good to see you again. I am here to drop off my sister and her friend. They have some things to ask about."

Shining Armor turned about, gave Twilight a somewhat worried look, and then trotted off, leaving Einar and Twilight to Mrs. Mare.

"Hello, youngsters, how are you today? Can I help you?" said Mare, looking at the two ponies before her curiously.

Twilight nodded readily. "Oh yes. We are here to look at some sort of forms that we need to sign to become certified Scavengers for Canterlot and Ponyville!"

Mrs. Mare bowed her head, almost in a mournful manner. "Oh. Indeed? Well, I do have some on hoof. If it pleases you, I will let you look them over. However, you will have to wait to have them considered by the council."

Einar blinked. "Is that really it? Scavengers are the tip of the spear in adventuring! Why isn't the hiring for this job meticulous and selective?"

Mrs. Mare glanced, rather skeptically, over her rimmed glasses. "Young pony, to King Balder, the term 'Scavenger' means nothing but 'insane berserker.' He does not care for exploration, and, quite frankly, I agree with him on this matter. It is too dangerous in the Lost World for anypony to go running willy-nilly around looking for relics that have crumbled to dust in the thousand years of negligence."

"But how will we know that those relics are gone and not perfectly fine and valuable if we don't look for them?" asked Twilight innocently.

Mrs. Mare simply readjusted her glasses and pulled out a couple pieces of paper and some fountain pens. Giving them to Einar, she said, "Fill out the basic information form and the commitment form. I will let the council know that you two wish to become certified Scavengers. I do believe you may be lucky, for there has been something of a lull in the council cases recently… and so you may get in earlier than a week."

Einar beckoned to Twilight, and the two ponies trotted over to a small wooden bench situated the left marble wall. They plopped down and started to look over the forms.

"I… I think we may be rushing this," murmured Twilight, "We just decided to be Scavengers minutes ago. Einar… If we sign this, then we pretty much get kicked out until we find something valuable."

Einar sighed. "You're right. But… But do we really want to recede into the regular, monotonous comforts that await us back home? I thought about this a lot now, and... well... I know it is dangerous, but I personally have hit a wall in life. I can't spend another second in my past life, doing nothing but counting down the days until that insufferable pony Trixie returns to sell us those precious Lost World books at exorbitant prices."

Twilight lightly tapped Einar on the shoulder. "You're right. I couldn't either. Let's go exploring."

Einar flashed Twilight a soft smile before returning to looking over his forms. There were many generic questions on the pieces of paper he held. Questions like "What's your name?" and "Where do you live?" However, there was one question that caught his eye. It read: "Where do you plan to regularly scavenge?" Holding the fountain pen in his magical grip, Einar quickly filled out the form. The pen flicked back and forth in a blur as Einar rushed to complete the papers before his courage completely gave out. His name? Einar Constellation. Where he lived? Star Landing Street, Canterlot. Where did he plan to regularly scavenge? The City of Coulin. Einar gently set aside the basic information form and began to read the other piece of paper he had, the commitment form. This form simply swore him into always giving twenty percent of the Lost World valuables he found to King Balder, ruler of Canterlot. Einar did not really care. He would give away everything as long as he got a hold of those books within Coulin. They would unravel so many secrets about the Lost World and the time-shrouded past, and that was worth a thousand pieces of gold. In a flash Einar had signed this form as well. Einar quickly glanced to Twilight, and saw she was doing the same.

The moment Einar finished, Mrs. Mare trotted up to them and said, "I alerted the council of your presence, and, interestingly enough, they said they could have you before them this instant. Come along, it seems you're doom… Er… I mean your future job… will be coming sooner than you thought."

Mrs. Mare gently took Einar and Twilight's Scavenger forms in her mouth and guided them to the end of the entryway hall. At the end was large ivory doors with a guard posted beside it. The guard slowly shoved one of the massive doors open, and Twilight, Einar, and Mrs. Mare slipped through. The trio found themselves in a large, circular, marble room, with high benches and a rather large podium. It looked quite like a round courtroom. However, the room itself was actually sparsely occupied, with only a couple head guards, elders, and scholars sitting about languidly. In addition to that, it seemed as if King Balder had decided to take a day off from work. A rickety old pony, situated behind the large marble podium, leaned over and beckoned to Mrs. Mare. The mare handed the elder, who took the papers she held in his mouth and laid them out before him. He looked over commitment pages quickly, and then looked at Twilight and Einar in an almost disbelieving fashion.

"You two wish to become certified Scavengers, correct?" he asked slowly, almost as if he was checking to make sure they knew for what job they were even planning to enter.

"Yes," said Einar, who was actually starting to feel like the whole idea was beginning to sour. However, after a moment he quickly bucked up. He didn't want to keep living the life he had been. "Yes, we do wish."

"Indeed," muttered the elder. He practically tossed aside the commitment forms and looked the informational forms. There was a pause, then… "Interesting."

Twilight's ears perked up. "I beg your pardon, sir?"

The elder glanced at the two ponies down below him curiously, and then beckoned over another elder to him. The two old ponies engaged in a heated whispered conference before the first elder disengaged and turned back to Twilight and Einar.

"This is quite odd, I will say," said the elder, "But… there is a problem with your forms."

Einar blinked. "What?"

"You see," said the elder, almost apologetically, "You say here that you plan to scavenge the city of Coulin, which is on the north side of the Foal Mountains, beside the forest of the Hollow Shades."

Twilight nodded. "Yes…?"

The elder scratched the back of his head and continued. "Well… A long time ago, just before King Balder, there was an addendum created for the Scavenger regulation book. There had been an event of several loner Scavengers that attempted to travel to the icy lands of Anora that never returned, and so the predecessor to King Balder added a rule stating that any pony planning to travel farther than the southern ranges of the Foal Mountains or the northern lines of the San Palomino Desert must have about six companions. A team, if you will…"

Einar's jaw practically hit the floor. Coulin was past the southern ranges of Foal Mountain, and that meant he needed five other teammates aside from Twilight? That was practically impossible. The elder dipped his head to Einar and Twilight and handed back the papers.

"I am _very_ sorry, but if you are set on going anywhere near the city of Coulin then you must find yourself a team of five others willing to make the journey. Come back then…"

Without another word the elder beckoned to a guard, and Twilight and Einar were escorted out.

"How did it go?" asked Mrs. Mare as Twilight and Einar trotted by her in a rather dejected manner.

"Apparently we need five more ponies to go with us if we want to go to Coulin," replied Einar quietly.

Mrs. Mare winced. "A rejection, then? Don't feel too bad. I personally never thought much of Scavengers anyway. They spend so much time around Draugr and the Sleeping that they are no better!"

Einar and Twilight exited the building, and found Shining Armor was waiting for them as well.

"Everything okay?" he said, cocking his head to one side curiously at the sight of their faces.

"We need to find five other ponies if we want to make the trip to Coulin," sighed Einar.

Wincing, Shining Armor said, "Oh well. It was a nice try."

"Wait a second though," said Twilight after a moment of silence, "Why does everypony assume that due to the fact we need more teammates we will never get them?"

Einar glanced at Twilight, his eyes full of disappointment. "Twilight, I have spent my entire life in Canterlot, and I know for a fact that everypony here has little to no interest at all in going to the Lost World. In fact, everypony knows enough about how silly we look when we babble about ancient books that they would simply laugh even harder if we attempted to recruit for our team."

"Wait another second Einar, who said anything about having to recruit from here?" replied Twilight, making a soft innuendo.

There was a moment of silence… and then the realization of the full meaning of Twilight's statement struck Einar, and his heart was filled with hope again. His eyes brightened.

"Twilight… You're a genius! Of course! We don't know anypony in Ponyville, so perhaps there might be five or six ponies there that have a brave spirit and willing mind!"

"Um… Hey, sorry to play devil's advocate here," interjected Shining Armor, "But 'brave spirit and willing mind' aside, I am fairly sure no pony anywhere is willing to go on a crazy adventure to Coulin without pay."

Einar winced, but then almost immediately came up with a solution to that problem. "We could pay them on expectations. They will receive a percentage of whatever we find in the Lost World."

Shining Armor pulled a face. "Slightly more convincing, but I am still fairly sure that any pony willing to join you on a mad dash to Coulin on expectations will still have to be as mad as a hatter."

"No problem whatsoever! There are plenty of ponies like us out there… Obviously… Probably… Maybe… Probably not…" said Twilight, her voice slowly trailing off.

Einar poked Twilight gently in the shoulder. "Don't lose your hopes! If you do, then I won't be too far behind in ditching as well. Come on, you got me stated again, so we need to keep up the momentum. Let's go, we need to plan out a trip to Ponyville… Who knows how we are going to get there…"

Shining Armor sighed. "I suppose I can't convince either of you otherwise… So all I can say now is that I will support you. Heck, I'll even pay for your trip! It's not like I wasted my every last cent on ancient books…"

Einar winced. "Please, I'm still torn over this whole thing; those comments are going to only make it worse."

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. "Einar, if you want to truly do this, you are going to need conviction! In fact, you are probably going to need a lot more than that… after all, getting to Ponyville is not for the faint of heart."

Twilight pulled a face. "Ooohhh… You're right."

"Yeah," continued Shining Armor, "Imagine all of that Lost World land between us and Ponyville. We should be able to procure a trip via the military trains though."

Twilight seized Shining Armor in a hug for the umpteenth time. "Thanks big brother! You're the best!"

Shining Armor grinned. "Oh yes, praise me more."

Einar rolled his eyes. "Yes, thank you, Shining Armor. Where would we be without you?"

"Okay, I'm good now," chuckled Shining Armor. "However, before we do anything, you two are going to get some rest. Now that you both need me, I am putting my hoof down on this matter. While you two are out I will see what I can do about arranging the trip."

"Fine," sighed Twilight, "I guess we need 'sleep' anyway."

Einar could not help but smile a bit at the way Twilight's muzzle wrinked at the word "sleep." Almost as if the term was something of a swear word.

* * *

_Year 1000, Day 4_

Einar slowly opened his eyes. He was lying upon the same couch he had found himself sleeping upon the previous day. Light was streaming through a nearby window. The color of the beams was rather red and orange, suggestion it was just after daybreak. At this moment Einar heard whispering coming from the second story of Twilight's house. It his friend was talking with her brother; most probably about the trip they were attempting to arrange to Ponyville. Groaning, Einar rolled off the couch and practically dragged himself up the stairs. Einar quickly rapped on the door to Twilight's room as he rubbed his eyes. The door was flung open a second later.

"You're awake! Finally!" exclaimed Twilight, ushering the rather groggy Einar into the room, "Shining Armor was explaining how we were going to get to Ponyville."

Shining Armor nodded. "Yeah. I will start over. As you should already know most public train transportation has been shut down ever since the amount of Draugr in the southern ranges increased exponentially. However, I was able to work past that and got you two tickets on a military-personal-train train."

"Really?" said Einar, blinking in surprise, "You can do that?"

"I am the Captain of the Guard. I have many privileges," said Shining Armor, smiling, "and since I cannot convince you two not to journey into the Lost World, I can at least protect you two up to that point. The ride will be somewhat uncomfortable, but it will be safe. I have complete faith in the military railroads. According to a military radio report, a pack of Trolls were spotted in the Everfree forest. King Balder, though he doesn't really care for Ponyville, still needs to show support for the town, and thus he is sending over a battalion of soldiers. Cleansers, I think. Anyway, since you both are here I think it is appropriate to mention that I have the tickets I mentioned earlier with me."

Shining Armor used his magic to gently pull out two slips of paper from his military saddlebag. He handed one to Twilight and one to Einar. "The train leaves in the next five hours, so I suggest you get packed up… not that either of you can really pack up that much…"

Twilight's face practically exploded with happiness. She whirled to Einar and exclaimed, "I'll start packing! I suggest you go do the same!"

Einar – who could not help but feel extraordinarily excited as well – nodded vigorously. "I'll rush home and get ready as well. I will meet you here in four hours or so!"

Einar turned tail and galloped downstairs and outside Twilight's house. At breakneck speed he rushed down the street, turned the corner, and took a sharp left. His house was at the corner. It was a small abode (about the same size as Twilight's) but was indeed cozy and very sturdy. However, despite the fact that the neat yard and even white paint gave the building the illusion that it was a place for a tidy pony, it was indeed not. The inside was a complete mess. There were indeed about twenty of the Lost World books were lined carefully on a clean mahogany desk… but that was where the cleanliness ended. Maps, scraps of paper, writing material, magnifying glasses, and book-renovating tools were scattered about the floor or piled into heaps. On the far left wall the window had been boarded up so that Einar could stretch a large canvas across it. The canvas was covered in ink notes… all of them relating to the Castle of Embers… and all of them neither coherent nor devoid of simple nonsensicalness. Einar stumbled in, tripped over a large telescope (which he used extensively to study the moon shards that remained distant and mysterious in the night sky), and then dragged himself up to the desk, the only clean piece of furniture in the entire house. As always, one of the foremost thoughts within his mind was of books.

"I need to bring the book we just got," he muttered, "Oh… and here is the one we were reading when we found out about Coulin… This one talks about Draugr, I should bring it too… Here is a good one as well!"

Next thing he knew, Einar was carrying all twenty books via magic. Sighing, he reluctantly put down the fifteen ones he deemed marginally less important. He then swiftly trotted upstairs and grab pretty much all the other things he thought were important. Winter clothing, a knapsack, cooking utensils, his father's old revolver… Einar sighed when he looked at the revolver. He remembered his father teaching him how to use to, and he remembered his father using it against the two shadowy creatures, and he remembered one of the shadows falling before the others tore him to shreds… Einar shuddered and shook off the thoughts. He packed the revolver beside the books he was taking, and quickly tucked in some revolver bullets as well. Einar glanced about, and then realized he was done. There was not much that he had, and there was not much he really intended to take with him. Almost all he had was stuff he had purchased for himself or Twilight tooled specifically towards fixing books, studying the moon shards, or observing the Castle of Embers. That was it. All in all, he had only managed to fill up two pairs of saddlebags.

Shrugging, Einar pulled out on of the older books on the city Coulin and began to read. The words were garbled and smudged, and many phrases had too many words in an old forgotten dialect, but Einar pressed on nonetheless. Seconds passed, then minutes, and then finally hours. Einar glanced up and his heart jumped. He had only a couple minutes before the four hours he had designated for packing was up. Einar put the book in one of his saddlebags, levitated the two pairs of bags upon his back, and began to make his way outside.

* * *

**Translations:**

Hæ. (Hi.)

* * *

**Author's Notes. Einar and Twilight need five more ponies until they can begin their adventure? Who could those ponies be? I am pretty sure you guys know what is coming up next. But until those developments come to pass, please review! It is always good to let me know what you think of where the story is heading, even in the initial stages of development. If you leave a review, I will give you a Scavenger certification form... if you're into that sort of thing. Not many ponies are apparently. Oh, one last note: the rifles that these ponies have are not at all advanced. When I was writing about them, I was thinking of rifles like the Lorenz Rifle and the Henry Repeating Rifle. Nothing fancy or contemporary.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Train Trip

**Author's notes. ****_Komið þið sæl og blessuð_! ****It's that time of day again! By that I mean it is time to once again venture into the weird, nordic version of a post-apocalyptic world. I really enjoy how this story is turning out as a whole, personally. Anyway, on to answering some reviews!**

**To The Federation Justice: You talking about rifle types made me realize I had not specified what type of rifles the ponies had. Weapons can be quite useful in telling what age a civilization is at. I updated the last chapter to mention what type of rifles the ponies had, but I will also mention it here. The prominent type of rifles the ponies have are pretty much identical to the weapons we had during the Civil War. So, basically, they were probably armed with firearms similar to the Lorenz rifle.**

**To Purple Pizza: What happened to the Princesses? Good question. Let's see... Luna had vanished, and Celestia was getting involved in some pretty dark magic. I won't say too much, but I will give you a hint: In the canon universe, ponies swear by "Celestia." In my nordic apocalypse universe, the ponies swear by the "Lady of Dying Light." Do these two beings sound similar?**

**To FocusedStream: Why did I choose Icelandic as the second prominent language for this dimension? Three words: "Google Icelandic Horse." Seriously, there are so many factors that go for Iceland in making my case.**

**Anyway, that is all for now! Enjoy the chapter! Something rather big is about to take place, so keep an eye out!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Train Trip**

_Year 1000, Day 4_

Einar swiftly rapped upon the door to Twilight's house. There was a pause…

"Hello Einar!" came a muffled voice from behind the door, "My hooves are somewhat 'tied down' at the moment… But the door is unlocked! Come right in!"

Einar tried the door. As usual, it was actually locked. "You know, Twilight," said Einar, fishing about in his saddlebags for a spare key Twilight had given him a while back, "If you simply said the opposite of whatever you thought the door's state was lock-wise, you would then be right ninety percent of the time!"

Einar found the key and unlocked the door. He pushed it open, and found himself staring at what pretty much looked like a pile of saddlebags. Twilight had apparently packed all twenty books she had been holding onto, along with a lifetime supply of notebooks, writing material, outdated (or false) maps of the Lost World, and anything else Lost World-related.

"I was really tempted to do the same, Twilight, but are you actually trying to take all of those with you?" snorted Einar.

Twilight actually shook her head. "Of course not! However, I decided to take a moment to categorize everything based I owned off of importance. In fact… Here! Can you double-check this checklist? While you are doing that I will check my checklist for my checklist."

Einar barely caught the checklist. It unfurled all the way to the floor. Einar blinked, "You managed to do all this in only four hours? Do you have wings or something?"

Twilight smiled. "I wish I was an Alicorn… But no. I just made sure everything was organized beforehoof! Being organized for the unexpected always makes things like packing a breeze! You could learn a thing or two from all of this…"

Einar pulled a face. "Yeah, yeah, yeah… It's not like you haven't told me that every day since me met years and years and years ago."

Twilight just winked and put down her checklist for her checklist. She lay out her saddlebags in a specific order (probably only to herself). Twilight pulled out a third checklist, and quickly looked it over.

"Okay, for what is that checklist?" said Einar.

"I need to choose the correct saddlebags…" murmured Twilight. "Winter clothing… Maps… And the books! Well, at least a couple of them."

Twilight picked up two pairs of saddlebags with her magic and placed them upon her back. She turned to Einar and smiled. "Aaaaannnddd… there! All set! Everything in order!"

Einar pulled a face. "I did all of that in half the time."

Twilight continued to smile. "But look at how clean my house is."

Twilight gently picked up the leftover saddlebags and set them aside in a corner. The house remained spotless. Einar glanced at a mechanical clock hanging on one of the walls inside. They still had plenty of time.

"Okay, sure… Are we ready for our little adventure?" asked Einar.

Twilight nodded. Einar stepped aside, allowing Twilight to pass. He closed the door behind her and locked it with the key that was already in the keyhole. He retracted the key, and then turned to follow his friend. They began to trot side-by-side towards the train station. However, before they were halfway down the main street, they were joined by Shining Armor.

"Oh, you won't find the military train at the public train station. Follow me!"

Shining Armor veered off of the path, and was followed by Einar and Twilight. Several ponies looked out of their windows to stare curiously. It was not often that ponies wore saddlebags, ready to travel. No pony went anywhere anymore. It was too dangerous, and yet here were two young ponies, looking as if they were ready to travel. Most shook their heads, almost mournfully, and went back inside; others simply stared.

"Most ponies think you are absolutely insane, I bet," chuckled Shining Armor, "I have to say I agree with them! You two better be careful."

"Yeah, well," snorted Einar, trying for once to sound a little nonchalant, "We are explorers! We don't care what they think!"

"That's the spirit!" laughed Shining Armor, "Now you just need to keep thinking that when you are trapped in some ruin, surrounded by a thousand Trolls!"

This fairly much killed the conversation. However, Shining Armor could not help but poke a little bit more fun at Einar or Twilight whenever a pony that passed by shook their head sadly. Aside from that, the trio's final dozen minutes were spent in silence. However, when they finally arrived at a massive metal shed, easily twice the size of the king's court, Shining Armor declared, "Welcome to the military train station!"

Twilight blinked in wonder. The building was plated in iron, and large tower was placed at the top. The edges of the structure were harsh and sharp, and they were mounted with serrated spikes. The bolts binding the very plating together were visible, and rust streaks ran long lengths across many of the iron plates. There were windowed slits a dozen meters off of the ground, and light dimly shone from the inside. A single guard with a rifle stood sentinel upon the tower, and several other guards were loitering around the massive railroad tracks that led out of one side of the military train station. All of these aspects were made even more ominous by the slowly setting sun, which cast a red glow upon the dull, sheening metal of the armor covering the station.

"Right this way," said Shining Armor, not really giving anypony a time to stare at the large structure. As he trotted in, followed by Einar and Twilight, he saluted to several of the guards. "Is the train prepped for its voyage to Ponyville?"

"Sure is, captain," replied one of the soldiers, "Are these two ponies the 'civilians' we are supposed to allow on board?"

"They are indeed," said Shining Armor, glancing back at his sister, "I would appreciate it if you situate them in the middle of the train. Just in case… you know…"

The guards nodded to him and then each other.

"What? Why in the middle? Just in case of what?" Twilight immediately began to ask.

"In case Draugr attack," chuckled another guard, grinning somewhat maliciously at Twilight, "They usually try to tear up the front or back… And when they enter the train it will take them the longest to tear up the ponies barricaded in the middle…"

Twilight blanched. Draugr were a natural part of the world… But she never dreamed she would ever be placed in a situation where contact was even possible. Einar shook his head. "I am sure the trains are sturdy enough to withstand any Draugr attack. I give the engineers a vote of confidence, I hope they will not let me down."

The guards chuckled a bit. However, before they could poke any more fun at the duo, a steam bell shrieked to the night skies. It was time for departure. The soldiers leapt to attention, and Shining Armor beckoned for Einar and Twilight to follow him through a small steel-plated door. Sliding it open, the Captain of the Guard ushered them inside, with the soldiers in single-file behind the three.

Twilight gasped as she saw the inside of the station. It was a veritable mechanical workshop, with giant cranes, piles of steel plating, stacks of iron pylons, and rows of metal beams. Sparks flew every-which-way from welder-ponies as they made final adjustments to the train… And the train definitely was the most defining element of the entire scene that was lying before the trio.

It was nowhere near similar to the average train that Twilight had seen. Those trains were small, narrow, and quaint, with a smoke stack and small wheels that fitted squarely. Those trains had rectangular shapes, with right angles and adorned sides. This train was not one of those trains. This train was smooth and streamline, like a bullet… And it had massive serrated blades and spikes sticking out from the smooth, curved front, the swept down to meet the track like the visor of an unforgiving knight. Saws lined the sides of the front car, and it looked like small manned cannons were mounted on its back. There was one more important detail to consider as well: the entire train was covered in long, damaging claw marks, as well as dents. This vehicle had certainly seen some unwanted attention.

"Well… At least it is still in once piece," breathed Einar, cantering up to the massive train and gently running a hoof down one of the largest of the claw marks near the front of the engine.

"That there was a Risi," chuckled a soldier passing by, "It grabbed a hold of us and swung on. Murdered a couple ponies before the mini-turrets gutted it… Or, at least we probably gutted it. Nearly impossible to kill Draugr properly."

Einar shuddered, but did not rethink his decisions. He was going to go on this trip, and he had no intention to turn back.

"All right!" called the heavily armored conductor of the train, "Counting off passengers! One… Two… Okay! We have our passengers! Cleansers will load in, followed by the civilians!"

A large group of ponies that had been standing to the side of the train began to board the front and the back. As they passed by, Einar noted that many of them were wearing what looked to be steel-plated hazmat suits… and flamethrower packs. Several minutes passed before the dozen Cleanser soldiers got in.

"Well, this is it," sighed Shining Armor, "I will say I have been on this train several times, so it is not that bad personally. I hope you two will stay out of trouble while looking for your loony Scavenger team."

Twilight hugged Shining Armor. "_Bless_."

Shining Armor returned the hug. He let go and turned to Einar, bobbing his head in his direction. "Take care of Twilight. _Sjáumst_."

Einar returned the nod. "I will. Farewell."

A guard pulled back a heavy steel hatch from one of the center metal-covered carriages, and the duo trotted inside. The hatch closed with a resounding clang, and all was silent for a moment. Then a voice crackled loudly over the PA system.

"Is this the button I am supposed to hold? What? I didn't read the manual either! Oh well… Ahem, due to the fact that this train has passengers for the first time in about a hundred years, we will start this the right way. Ahem… Good evening! I am pleased to welcome you all aboard the _Tunglsljósi_ express! The route we will be taking tonight will bring you from Canterlot directly to Ponyville. The trip will take about 10 hours to complete, but I am sure that you all will be too pleased with our service to notice the passing time. At this point we would like to point out that due to our timing, this trip's danger prognostication has gone from an 8 to a 5… What? No? That's not it? Oh… Well… a 6 then. Not that either? Well folks, it seems that this current trip's danger prognostication will be an 8. However, that is indeed much smaller than a 9 or a 10. In addition, thanks to our timing, by the time we do reach the densely infested zones, we will have reached optimal operating speed, and all protective weapons will be fully functional. Except that one saw on car 4. But to Grýla with car 4. No one cared about that one anyway."

There was suddenly a scuffle over the PA system, and it hung up. Einar glanced at Twilight unsurely, but then shrugged. "I supposed that means we go find the bunks in this car."

After a bit of glancing about, Twilight noticed a large section of the latter half of their car had thick panes of glass. After inspection, Einar noticed a door and shoved it open. The glass-protected section of the car had several wall-mounted bunks, complete with cheap pillows, covers, and seatbelts. Einar trotted through the glass doorframe and up to one of the bunks and inspected it closely. "Seatbelts…?"

Almost as if to answer his question, the PA system came on again, and the pony that had been narrative previously resumed. "Get away from the mic! This is mine! By the Lady of Dying Light… _Bjáni_… Well, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted: all ponies not on guard duty – which basically means all of you aside from those two random civilians – must immediately report to their designated sleeping quarters, which are located on the south end of their car, surrounded by thick panes of protective glass. Choose a bunk and strap yourselves in. Seatbelts must be worn at all times, as this ride will be very, very bumpy. Wait, what…? What are you talking about?! What do you _mean_ I'm under-exaggerating?! Whatever. I don't have time for this. Please strap yourselves in and hold on."

Twilight nervously glanced at Einar, who proceeded to climb into the nearest bunk. No sooner had Einar scrabbled into the extraordinarily uncomfortable mattress then the train started to move. A loud, ear-shattering screech echoed through the cars, and a huge jerking shudder vibrated everything violently, sending Twilight and Einar careening out of their respective bunks and onto a heap on the floor.

"They weren't kidding about the ride being bumpy!" cried Einar, helping up Twilight and leaping into the nearest bunk again, flopping down and strapping himself in with a single movement. The screeching noise got slowly louder and louder as the train picked up speed. This is how the next several hours were, with Twilight and Einar doing their best (and failing) to block out the noise of the huge train in motion. However, as the night wore on, a solider pony (a bright orange Unicorn with a yellow mane and chestnut eyes) trotted in and saluted to the duo.

"_Gott kvöld_!" he cried, "How are you two enjoying the ride?"

"Well, I have a pressing question," gasped Einar, feeling the train sway uncomfortably as it took a very sharp turn somewhere, "Are the tracks maintained in any way? No pony aside from scavengers are allowed to be in the Lost World by hoof, so who keeps the tracks from disintegrating from age?!"

The guard laughed. "The tracks are made entirely from steel and titanium, little pony! They aren't going anywhere!"

"I have some very large claw marks on the side of one of the steel-plated carriages that states otherwise!" said Twilight, feeling the train run over a very sharp bump.

The solider simply chortled, and took up a guarding stance outside the glass-protected bedding area. He was soon joined by a mare (an Earth Pony with a deep red coat, brown mane, and brown eyes) in an identical uniform.

"_Komdu sæl_, corporal!" said the first guard.

"Greetings, SPC," replied the corporal, "How are the civilians?"

"Shaken up, but as cozy as two peas in a pod," laughed the specialist.

"I love how you refer to us as baggage!" cried Twilight in a disgruntled manner. However, before she could go any further, the train shuddered after going over a rough patch in the tracks, and Twilight (despite wearing a seatbelt) was sent muzzle-first into her pillow. It was a softened blow, but it stunned her nonetheless. The two soldiers chuckled. Another shudder rocked the car, causing Einar and Twilight to bounce about painfully.

"Could things get any worse?" muttered Einar. A rumble of thunder rolled out from the unseen sky above, and a flash of lightning illuminated the slit windows in the side of the carriage. Rain began to patter harshly on the roof above, filling the room with tiny pings as the droplets smacked the iron plating. Another loud crash of thunder shook the car in unison with a sudden bump in the tracks. Einar shook his head, wondering why he even bothered. An hour passed, but the rain and thunder only got heavier and louder.

"By the Lady of Dying Light," sighed Twilight, lying on her back, belly-up, trying to block out the noises with her hooves, "First the bumpy ride, and then this thunderstorm? Could this ride get…?"

"Don't say it," interjected Einar, but his voice was somewhat drowned out by the noise.

"… Any worse?" finished Twilight.

**_KKRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!_**

A shrieking, shuddering, jerking jolt ripped through the car, sending everypony (from soldier to civilian) tumbling from their resting places, regardless of seatbelts or not.

"What was that about bumpy rides?" gasped Einar, feeling the wind knocked out of him. This comment was meant to slightly lighten the mood after being knocked about, but neither of the guards shared the previous air of optimism.

The specialist rushed up the inter-train communication system and seized the detachable walkie-talkie.

"_Andskotinn_! What just happened? That was certainly not a level eight shudder! What is going on up there?"

The specialist was suddenly hurled aside as the train bucked and swayed, the screeching noises only getting louder. A loud _bang_ suddenly filled the cars, and the whole vehicle began to decelerate rapidly. The corporal rushed to take up the loosely hanging walkie-talkie as the dazed specialist rubbed his aching head.

"Engine! Report! Come in! I need a report! Engine room! _Allt í lagi_?!_ Skilurðu_?! I need a report!" she cried, strangling the walkie-talkie as if she was attempting to squeeze out the much-needed information.

"_Krrshhkk_… Frontal defenses… Offline… _Tuueeoooeeeekkkkkk_… Collision confirmed… _Kreeessskkk_… No visual contact… Draugr possibility… Restarting the engine!"

The corporal slammed down the walkie-talkie and swore through her teeth. Then the train came to a shuddering, grinding halt. Silence reigned supreme, with only the gentle pattering of raindrops to interrupt the echoing lull.

Then came the noise, echoing from the rooftop.

**_Srtch_… _Scrtch_… _Skkrreecckkk_…**

The corporal glanced at the SPC officer, her face turning sheet-white. The two slowly began to back away from the walkie-talkie station, carefully moving towards the source of the scraping noise. With baited breath, the specialist glanced at the corporal and drew his revolver. The corporal followed suit.

"By Embers…" gasped Einar, the full realization of what was about to happen hitting him like a thousand kilograms of bricks.

_**Skkkrrrreeeeeeeee… Crrkkkk… EEEEEEEEEEEEEE…**_

"No…" breathed the SPC officer.

"BREACH!" screamed the corporal into the smaller walkie-talkie slung about her hip. However, it was too late. It had broken through.

A long, massive, shrieking, black tar-like creature shot through the hole in the roof and immediately assaulted the two soldiers. It looked like a humongous decaying snake covered in a giant swathe of oozing black filth, with rotting flesh and bones poking out of the writhing vicious fluid. The head (if it actually had a head) was a gruesome affair. Three pairs of jaws split into a three-pronged beak at the end, with hundreds of black teeth as long as bent nails. The flowing tar that rippled around it bubbled from its mouth and splattered all over the floor, sizzling and corroding. It had no eyes. A dozen long, blade-like legs stuck out of its midriff like a centipede's appendages, and the end of the creature was nowhere to be seen, with the length of the creature still writhing about on the outside. It was even possible that this was not even half of the creature.

"Draugr Troll! Draugr Troll!" screamed the corporal, screaming at the top of her lungs into her walkie-talkie as the SPC officer lay down cover fire. She then threw down the communication device and joined in firing rapidly at the monster. The bullets fired from revolvers did naught but infuriate the Draugr. With a moaning shriek, the creature twirled and squirmed, lashing out with its blade-like legs and its teeth-filled maw. With the speed of a rattlesnake it shot forward and seized the corporal in its mouth. With a gut-wrenching scream of fear the corporal's front-half was engulfed by the monster. It shut tight, severing the pony in two.

The specialist let out a yell, attempting to back up even more. The Draugr slowly turned to face the pony with its sightless eyes… Then the cavalry arrived. At least a dozen heavily armed ponies burst through one end of the car, their guns at the ready. The Draugr turned to the new threat and shot forward, its blade-like centipede legs slicing through the limbs of a couple soldiers… and then the entire group began to shoot. Bullets filled the air, punching holes in the walls, completely shattering the glass-protected bedroom, and bouncing off the metal plating. At least a score of bullets immediately struck the Draugr in the face, causing it to recoil as half of its three-pronged maw was blown away. Hissing, the Draugr spat a long gout of the bubbling, corrupting, tar-like substance at its enemies. It landed upon one of the wounded ponies, who had lost a leg from its blade-like limbs. The pony shrieked in agony as the black substance ate away at their face, killing them in seconds. Then, with a mournful howl, the Draugr finally went limp, with many, many bullets filling its decaying body. The exposed half of the monster hung loosely from the hole in the roof, slowly melting to a puddle of decaying filth that began to heavily corrode the bottom of the train car.

Breathing heavily, the SPC officer dragged himself over to the wall-mounted inter-train communication system. He picked it up and slowly spoke into it.

"There was an undead in car 7. A Troll. It has been neutralized. There have been two casualties, and there is one wounded. Recovering now. Over and out."

* * *

**Translations:**

Bless. (Goodbye.)

Sjáumst. (See you later.)

Tunglsljósi. (Moonlight.)

Komdu sæl. (Hello. [Specifically to a female.])

Allt í lagi? (Okay? [The literal translation is a bit weird so ignore it.])

Skilurðu? (Do you understand? [Again, the translation is not exactly what is seems to be. This happens a lot, so live with it.])

* * *

**Author's Notes. And so we get to meet our first Undead. A Draugr Troll. However, I would like to mention one thing: when I was writing this, I realized that this Draugr must have been the runt of its litter so to speak. Just something for you to think upon. Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you have a second, do not forget to write a review. If you write a review, I will protect you from the Draugr I "inadvertently" set on your house. Sorry about that by the way.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Apple and Acres

**Author's Notes. Okay, it is time for another "Still Mountains, Silent Valleys" chapter! I have not much to say other than to get ready for the introduction of the Mane 6! The time to meet them all is nigh.**

**To FocusedStream: I was wondering where all those "nopes" had gone. Are they under the bed with you? Or did they run away to maximize their distance between themselves and the troll?**

**Now onto the latest chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Apples and Acres**

_Year 1000, Day 5_

For at least a minute there was nothing but silence, with only the faint sound of an electric clock striking midnight to break the void of sound.

Einar had fairly much hurled himself upon Twilight to protect her with his body when the bullets fired at the Druagr shattered the glass that protected them. Slowly and carefully he extricated himself from the pile of hooves that was Twilight and himself. He wobbly got to all fours and gently cantered over to the giant puddle of bubbling corruption that represented the last resting place of the Troll.

"Was that… Was that… Was that a Draugr?" breathed Einar, shaking all over. He had seen pictures, but he had never seen any of the undead monsters up close.

"Yes... That was one of the undead," sighed the specialist pony, cleaning his gun and putting it in its holster.

"How… how did something like that ever come into existence?" whimpered Twilight. She trotted up beside Einar and leaned against him for support as her shaking legs nearly gave out underneath her.

"You're the scholars, you're the ones who are supposed to be finding such things out," replied the specialist. He kneeled beside the severed abdomen of the corporal, which was all that was left of the dead mare. He bowed his head. Another guard cantered over to Einar and Twilight and saluted. "Sir. Ma'am. We need for you to come to the adjacent car. We will put two in there for the rest of the ride. We apologize for the inconvenience."

"You have no need to apologize to us, sir," murmured Einar, looking sadly at the headless pony near the far end of the car; the second casualty of the fight.

The soldier nodded stoutly, and escorted Einar out. Twilight had to practically be carried, with her mind not steady enough to even operate her voluntary muscles. The two ponies were practically put to bed by the guards, gently being tucked in and strapped to the mattresses by the seatbelts. As the guards closed the thick glass doors, the PA system crackled to life once more.

"Yeeeaahhhhh… Ummmmm… So, we have experienced an extraordinarily unusual degree of horrendous inconvenience tonight… But I am sure most ponies here know of that already, having been shooting at that inconvenience for the past couple minutes. Anyway, the trouble has been contained with minimal issue. The engines have started again, and we will be out of the Danger Zone in mere minutes. Thank you."

Both Einar and Twilight did not even hear the PA system shut off, for they both had passed out seconds earlier.

* * *

_Year 1000, Day 5_

Einar opened his eyes. By the omnipresent grinding noise underhoof, he could tell that the train was still moving at top speed. However, it was not as bothersome or annoying as it was before. Einar turned to look at the bed across from him where Twilight slept. The purple Unicorn was still unconscious, he muzzle squished up into a fixed expression of worry and fear. Almost as if on cue, the PA system activated, and the announcer spoke up once more.

"It is daybreak. We are only half-an-hour away from Ponyville. There have been no other issues. Wow… That's weird. We're not dead yet! Huh…? You shut up! Fine… I'll be quiet now."

The PA system shut off, and Einar slowly unstrapped himself from the stiff mattress. He rolled over and gently trotted over to where Twilight slept. He shook her gently. "Hey, Twilight, it's time to wake up. We are almost there."

Twilight opened one purple pupil and looked at Einar. "Okay…"

Einar cantered over to his bed again and strapped himself down once more. He turned to face Twilight.

"How are you holding up?" he said quietly.

Twilight wrinkled her nose. "I'm okay… I guess. I'm just really shaken up. I've seen lots of pictures of Draugr, but I have never seen one up close before. And that was a Troll too! Those things are terrifying."

Einar sighed. "The undead blight. And no pony is anywhere close to understanding where they came from, either. There are the Draugr… and then there are the Sleeping. Nothing else awaits us in the Lost World."

Twilight looked at Einar anxiously. "Are you considering giving up our planned venture?"

Shaking his head, Einar replied, "No. But I am worried how many ponies will be crazy enough to follow us out into the wilderness. There are plenty more Draugr from where that came from, and all of us know it."

"I suppose you're right," sighed Twilight. The two ponies let the conversation slip into oblivion and allow silence to reign supreme. This went on for the last thirty minutes. Thanks to the fact that the slits in the carriage were utterly covered in grime, neither of the duo could not see the small town of Ponyville draw nearer and nearer with each passing minute. Then, suddenly, they were there.

The train came to a grinding halt, and a shuddering jolt shook the entirety of the train as velocity struck zero. The PA system crackled online for the final time.

"Well! We have finally arrived at Ponyville military station. We hope you have enjoyed the ride, you civilian ponies. No, seriously, don't tell your friends about what happened."

The PA communication system shut off, and suddenly one of the large hatches in the side of the car Einar and Twilight stood in swung open. A guard trotted in and beckoned the two follow him. Einar glanced at Twilight, and the duo trotted out of the train. They found themselves on a large steel platform in a warehouse-like building rather similar to the military station in Canterlot. Cranes hung overhead, and small catwalks crisscrossed the ceiling like a spider's web. Einar turned around to give the train one final glance. He gasped softly, and tapped Twilight to turn about as well. She did so, and her ears flattened immediately when she saw the condition of the train. For the most part the entire vehicle was in good shape, but then there was the middle section… A massive hole was in the center of the middle carriage, and the black, tarry corruption that was the dark ectoplasm of the Druagr covered it. It was still bubbling, and eating away at the steel plating, filling the air with a foul stench.

Einar gently grabbed one of Twilight's shoulders and turned her around. "It's best if we leave," he murmured. Twilight nodded. They trotted to the nearest exit, and were let out by a pair of guards. Slowly to the duo stepped out into the early morning air as the blood-red sun rays from a rising sun streaked the dark sky. Einar and Twilight were in Ponyville.

"Soooo… Where are we going to be staying?" said Einar slowly, looking about Ponyville. Due to the fact that dawn was just breaking, the streets were quiet, and only a couple ponies had gotten up to perform early-morning tasks.

"Oh! That's right!" exclaimed Twilight as she recalled something, "Shining Armor mentioned something about that. He said that he talked to some friends here over radio, and secured us place to stay while we search for our teammates! I remember the address! Follow me!"

Twilight began to trot slowly to in a certain direction, and Einar followed up closely. As they cantered, Twilight glanced at Einar.

"So," she said, "Do you know how you are going to find the right ponies?"

Einar shrugged. "I guess I will know when I do. We will have to keep both eyes peeled for promising characters. I suppose at this point we should at least start talking to ponies. Ask about… make friends…"

Twilight suddenly shrunk back, as if veering away from a venomous snake. Einar glanced at his friend. "What?"

Twilight grimaced a bit. "Make… friends…?"

Einar nodded. "Well, yeah… How else are we supposed to find ponies crazy enough to go to the city of Coulin with us? Is there a problem?"

Twilight sighed. "I'm sorry… You know me, I've spent so much time trying to read books of the Lost World that I've really never thought of making friends. And I'm sure you know by now that I am obviously out of practice… being my only friend…"

Einar chuckled. "And you were the one to inspire us to go find ponies in Ponyville… It's actually not that hard, Twilight! You may be orderly and by-the-book, but sometimes it helps to leap into something. That is how I was able to interpret many of the older of the Lost World books!"

"Ugh… I don't know about this now," sighed Twilight, now having serious second thoughts.

Einar grinned, her sense of uncomfortableness giving him a drive to press onward. "It's fine. All you need to do is talk! Watch."

Einar suddenly turned sharply to the left and trotted up to the nearest pony. The pony was bright pink, with a pink-magenta mane and shining eyes. Upon her flank was the mark of a few many-colored balloons. The pony was trotting along the dimly-lit streets, humming a little tune. She stopped when Einar stepped in front of her and smiling disarmingly.

"Hello there," said Einar amiably, "How are you?"

The pink pony leapt about a meter in the air, and a large, shocked gasp escaped her gaping maw. With a rush of air she dashed off, leaving Einar in the dust. Einar blinked. "Well… Okay. Here's my number. Call me later?"

Twilight shook her head. "I hope that's not how all the ponies here work."

Einar adjusted the saddlebags upon his back with a bit of magic and turned back to face Twilight. "Anyways… I say we go to wherever it is Shining Armor said we could stay, and then figure out what to do next once we have settled in."

Twilight nodded, and returned to navigating the dawn-lit pathways of Ponyville. A dozen minutes later Twilight and Einar came upon their temporary home. It looked like a small cottage that was constructed out of a tree. There was a front door set in the bark, and several small windows poking out of the upper foliage. An odd affair indeed.

"A tree-house…?" asked Einar quietly. Twilight shrugged. His guess was as good as hers.

She then trotted up to the door and took a note that had been hung on the doorknob. It read: "Dear Einar and Twilight. Shining Armor said that you two would be staying here for several days while you looked for teammates to follow you on that rather absurd and suicidal journey. Anyways, you will find the key under the doormat. Cheers, Mr. Cake."

"You will find the key under the doormat…" echoed Einar, disbelievingly, "He just said that? How trusting are these ponies?"

"Trusting enough," replied Twilight incredulously as she found the key, sure enough, under the doormat. She levitated it via magic and inserted it into the door. The key turned and the door unlocked with a click. Twilight pushed the door gently open, and she and Einar cantered inside. Einar found flicked on the lights, and looked about their temporary abode. It was very plane, with nothing on the ground floor aside from a couch and a small table. Some stairs to the left led up to a bedroom on the second story, and another door straight ahead led to a kitchen. It was a sturdy home, to say the least.

"Well, let's get settled and then begin our planning to find teammates," said Einar, tossing down his saddlebags. "After we get a bit of sleep, let's begin looking about. This should work…"

* * *

_Year 1000, Day 6_

"This isn't working. It's been a whole day, and I haven't had any luck as of yet," sighed Einar, as he opened the door to the room, trotted in, and flopped down on the couch beside Twilight who was reading the logbook on Coulin building structures. "All the ponies I've talked to think I'm joking! Heck, most of them aren't even sure the Castle of Embers exists! None of them have been out of their front yards before!"

"To be fair, neither have we until now," commented Twilight without looking up from her book.

Rolling his eyes, Einar said, "Don't take their side! If you would buck up and go try to make some friends as well, we would have found someone by now!"

Twilight pulled a face. "Yeah, I suppose so… But I have been helping! Look at this!"

Twilight quickly pulled out a slip of paper that she had been using as a bookmark for one of the Lost World books. Using magic she handed it to Einar. Einar took it and glanced it over.

"Applejack's Apple Festival?" echoed Einar, reading the slip, "Okay… I see… It's a social gathering. You think we should try to talk to some ponies there?"

Twilight blushed suddenly. "Well… Ah… I meant," she stuttered, "I meant… I thought you should go to talk to them during the festival while I stayed here… and studied."

"You're not an introvert, Twilight!" snorted Einar, "You know plenty of ponies in Canterlot! This shouldn't be much different here!"

Twilight sighed. "I suppose…"

Nodding, Einar threw a hoof about Twilight's shoulders. "That's the spirit! It looks like this festival is actually in an hour, interestingly enough, so I suggest we leave right now. If we get there early, perhaps we can talk to this Applejack pony! If she's organizing this festival, then mayhap she knows a bit about the ponies to talk to about a crazy journey into the Lost World!"

Twilight tried to weakly protest, but Einar would have none of it. Grabbing her hooves firmly, he dragged her out of the house and onto the street. Looking about quickly, Einar got his bearings and began to trot in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

"How do you seem so comfortable with this all of a sudden?" asked Twilight catching up with Einar as he trotted purposefully in the direction of the festival, "You seemed so worried when you found out we would need teammates initially!"

"I don't really know," replied Einar, shrugging, "I suppose that one Draugr attack acted like a splash of ice-cold water. I know what needs to be done now, and I will complete it. We just need to keep focused on the task at hoof, and any awkwardness fades away! Anyway, all the ponies I have met so far have been friendly or terrified of me, so it hasn't been at all difficult."

In a couple minutes the two ponies had made it to the edge of Ponyville where the Sweet Apple Acres resided. However, despite its name, it did not resemble anything _too_ sweet. There were indeed orchards of apples, but the entirety of the farm was surrounded by extremely tall barbed-wire fences, and several turrets with ponies armed with rifles stood about and around the ocean of apple trees. Glancing at Twilight, Einar simply said, in response to this intriguing visual, "It is a little too close to the Lost World for comfort anyway."

The duo trotted up to a large gate set in the barbed-wire fence. They rung a small metallic bell, and were suddenly confronted by an armed soldier. "State your business," the soldier said sharply, looking the two ponies up and down with a sharp eye.

"We're here for the Applejack's Apple Festival," stated Einar.

The soldier nodded. "Very well… Though I will say that both of you are rather early."

The pony proceeded to pull the heavy metal gate open, and allow Twilight and Einar to squeeze in.

"Well, we're in, now all we need to do is find this Applejack pony," said Einar, looking about. Twilight tapped Einar on the shoulder and pointed with a hoof off towards the orchards.

A female Earth Pony with a pale grayish olive coat, bright gamboge mane, and sap green eyes was charging down an apple tree laden with red apples. As she reached the base of the tree, the pony turned and bucked the trunk, giving Twilight and Einar a glimpse of the mark upon her flank: it was a trio of bright red apples. The apples upon the tree that this pony had bucked hard tumbled from the branches, and all landed perfectly in baskets placed about the base. Twilight cocked her head to one side. "I suppose that's Applejack."

Einar nodded. He and Twilight then proceeded to canter up to the pony as she stood, viewing her handiwork.

"_Blessuð_," said Einar, "You're Applejack, correct?"

The pony turned to look at the two ponies approaching her. Her eyes suddenly light up with the sight of new ponies, and she seized both Einar's and Twilight's right hoofs. She then proceeded to shake the hooves vigorously.

"_Góðan daginn _y'all!" cried the pony, "You bet yer Nelly I'm Applejack! How ya two doin' on this fine morn?!"

Einar quickly wrenched his hoof from Applejack's iron grip. "We are doing good, thank you for asking!"

"So, what are ya two doin' here so early?" asked Applejack brightly, "Here to taste the apple pies early?"

"Well, not exactly," said Twilight, "We really wanted to ask you about…"

"Great!" interjected Applejack excitedly, who clearly had not heard a single thing Twilight had just said. "Just sit yerselves down here!"

In less than a second Einar and Twilight found themselves sitting next to a rough wooden table covered in a checkered tablecloth.

"Yee-haw! Soup's on, everypony!" cried Applejack, ringing a metallic triangle heartily. Suddenly a whole group of rowdy western-styled ponies surrounded Einar and Twilight. In an instant Applejack began to force massive dishes full of apple-related food before the duo.

"Here! Have some apple pie! And some apple crisps! Pickled apples! Apple cobbler! Apple tarts! Apple cake! And wash it all down with some apple juice!"

Einar blinked in surprise as a large slice of pie was practically shoved down his throat. He choked on it heavily as Applejack went on to introducing fairly much the whole apple family.

"And that there is Big Macintosh! Here is Apple Bloom! And there is Granny Smith!"

Einar managed to swallow the whole piece of pastry, and looked up at Granny Smith. She was a bright-green colored mare, and was clearly very aged. Einar ignored Applejack as she continued to pamper them with food, and smiled at Granny Smith.

"Hello there! You seem quite wise and aged. Does that mean you have stories to tell?"

Granny Apple cupped a hoof about on floppy ear. "Eh? What's that young'un?"

Einar dodged a hoof attempting to give him some apple tart and leaned close to Granny Smith. "Do you have any stories to tell?"

Granny Smith smiled, looking pleasantly surprised. "That I do, young'un! Yer interested in such things?"

"Yes. I'm a scholar, so is my best friend here. If you have anything to tell us about Ponyville and the surrounding area, we would really appreciate it!"

"By my apron! I would love to! Can't really tell anything though with all this hubbaloo goin' on!"

Einar nodded. Then he turned to Applejack and exclaimed, "Ummm... _Þakka þér kærlega fyrir_, but we weren't really here to try food! We weren't even going to the festival for this reason!"

Applejack stopped piling food in front of him and Twilight and blinked in mild surprise. "Then why didn't you say so?! Why were you here then?"

Einar motioned to Granny Smith. "Well, we are here to learn, basically. Granny Smith here has some things to tell us, and I would appreciate it if everyone quieted down."

Twilight smiled at Granny Smith. "You have stories? Of where? Here? I would love to hear about them!"

The little filly called Apple Bloom pulled a face. "Her stories can go on fer sooo long! Why do you wanna hear about them?"

"We're Lost World scholars!" explained Twilight, "We're here to learn about why our world is the way it is! In fact, that is another of the reasons why we came here. We are forming a team to venture into the Lost World so we can study it!"

Nearly every pony blanched at the idea of going into the unknown, where the Sleeping lay in clusters, and the Draugr plagued every hoofstep… but not Applejack. In fact, she looked invigorated by such an idea.

"You want to venture into the Lost World? And yer lookin' fer a team? Why, that's amazin'! You wouldn't be lookin' for a capable mare like mahself, now would you?"

Einar's jaw almost hit the floor. "You… What…? _Ertu að djóka__?_ You want to go into the Lost World?"

Applejack nodded her head. "Ever since I was a little filly! The unknown was always a wonder fer me! I was goin' tah be a scavenger, but I decided to stay to keep Sweet Apple Acres… But now I'm free again! Now, don't look at me like that. It's the honest truth!"

Twilight looked at Einar, and then looked at Applejack, and then looked at Einar again. "Well… Okay! I will admit that we hadn't any real plans of recruiting. Of course, we are willing to give you a percentage of all our findings. But still need to find four more ponies before we can get our group certified to venture into the Lost World."

Applejack stroked her chin as she thought about this. "Hmmmmm… Goin' to the Lost World ain't for everypony. Ah! If you're lookin' for good ponies, I suggest you all look up Rainbow Dash! That Pegasus is as fit as a pony can be. She might be interested!"

Einar leapt up, excited at the prospect of finding another potential teammate so quickly. "Amazing! Oh… Granny Smith, sorry about that. Mayhap I can come back later to talk about your past! Come on Twilight!"

Twilight looked up from eating a whole apple crumble out of obligation. She nodded, her mouth full and her chin dripping with apple preservatives.

* * *

**Translations:**

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir. (Thank you kindly.)

* * *

**Author's Notes. Okay! That is one of the Mane 6 on board! We just need four more (because Twilight doesn't count; she was already on board). I will mention at this point that I did model all of the meetings slightly after how Twilight met them all during the first episode of season 1 of the MLP show. Nonetheless, there will be noticeable discrepancies in their conversations and the locations that they will be at, but that all makes sense simply because this is an alternate universe... and a drastically altered alternate universe at that. I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. If you did, make sure to leave a review. Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7 - Rainbows and Diamonds

**Author's Notes. Hello everyone! I was contemplating starting this off by conversing entirely in Icelandic, but then decided against it, I would prefer not not have the translation section utterly brimming with words.**

**To Ulfred: It's nice to see that someone understands the importance of the Sweet Apple Acres walls. Apples must be protected at all costs! What would we do without apple pies?!**

**To FocusedStream: You wanted some Rainbow Dash? Here! Have some Rainbow Dash!**

**Enjoy my latest chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Rainbows and Diamonds**

_Day 1000, Day 6_

A couple minutes later saw the duo trotting away from the high walls of the protected farm of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Uhhhhhgggg," groaned Twilight, stopping to glance back at her bloated belly. "I think I ate too much apple… Well, apple everything."

Einar pulled a face as he felt his own stomach panging with the pain of an overfeeding. "Eating out of obligation is a horrible thing to experience. Now… We need to figure out how to find this Rainbow Dash pony."

Twilight stopped rubbing her hurting stomach and looked to the sky. "Applejack said that Rainbow Dash was a Pegasus. In that case she must be in charge of whatever joint effort there is to control the Ponyville weather. Hmmmmmm… It doesn't look like anypony is doing much, though."

The sky was indeed rather cloudy, with stray mounds of fluffy vapor floating in the air above Ponyville like a rogue herd of airborne sheep.

Eianr was about to nod in agreement, but then stopped to listen. There was a noise propagating from above and to their right. It sounded like a missile coming to earth at an alarming speed. Einar glanced to his right. A female Pegasus was recklessly dashing toward him from the sky above, probably fruitlessly attempting a botched trick. Einar had no time to cry out or say anything. Instead, without thinking, he simply took a step back.

The Pegasus smashed straight into Twilight, sending the two mares tumbling into a puddle of mud. Twilight just lay there, completely dazed. The Pegasus, however, immediately leapt up and shook off the mud clinging to her rainbow-colored mane and her light-blue coat. She looked about, and then down at Twilight. She grinned.

"Heh… Ummmm… Excuse me?"

Twilight just groaned.

"Hey there," said Einar, looking the Pegasus up and down. She was the color of the rainbow, so he decided to take a little leap of faith. "Are you Rainbow Dash?"

"The one and only!" cried Rainbow Dash proudly. However, she paused to look down again at Twilight, who was still lying in the mud. "Oh… Sorry… Let me help you!"

Rainbow Dash shot off into the sky like a rocket, coming back with a dark cloud, no doubt laden with unfallen rain particles. The rainbow-colored mare positioned the raincloud above Twilight's head and began to jump up and down on it. The raincloud dumped the contents of its load upon Twilight's head, soaking her to the skin. It was not much of an improvement. Einar just winced.

For Rainbow Dash, however, this was an absolute hoot. The mare could barely contain her laughter as she looked at the drenched Twilight.

"No, that's not it. I guess I overdid it," she sniggered, "Here… I got this… My very own patented Rain-blow Dry!"

Rainbow Dash shot down from the raincloud (which was now clean, light, a fluffy ivory color) and began to circle Twilight at incredible speeds, engulfing her in a rainbow-colored tornado. Einar just stood to one side, feeling very glad that he had taken a step back to avoid the collision just minutes before.

A second later Rainbow Dash stopped her "Rain-blow Dry" and drifted a couple meters away to observe her handiwork. Twilight looked fine now, except for one thing: her mane was exceptionally poofy and frizzly. This was the last straw for Rainbow Dash. She broke down laughing. Einar just rolled his eyes.

"That's all very hilarious," he said to her flatly, "But you should see Twilight after she takes a shower. It's ten times worse."

This wasn't exactly Twilight's idea of a "helping-hoof" in this situation. She glared at Einar before saying, to Rainbow Dash, "Very funny. So… Lemme guess: you're Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash (who was literally rolling on the floor laughing) stopped her giggles, looking up, and shot to attention, hovering a half a meter off the ground. "As I said before to your buddy over there: the one and only! Why? You heard of me?"

"Well, yeah," said Einar, trotting up to stand by Twilight's side. He paused to gently poke Twilight's fluffy mane. He grinned as it engulfed the entirety of his hoof in frizzles. "Umm… Yeah… Oh! That's right! A pony names Applejack recommended you to us!"

"Applejack? Really? What for?"

Twilight tried to straighten her hair, but it failed. After snorting in frustration, she turned back to address Rainbow Dash's question. "Well, Einar and I are looking for a team to venture into the Lost World. Applejack really liked the idea, and then suggested for us to look for you too."

Just like Applejack, Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up at the idea of going into the unknown. "The Lost World? You two nerds are planning to go there all alone?"

Twilight screwed up her face, and it looked like she was about to give Rainbow Dash a piece of her mind, so Einar quickly interrupted. "Well, no. First: We have Applejack. Second: We have you… if you're interested."

"You bet your Embers I'm interested!" shouted Rainbow Dash enthusiastically. "Imagine: an unknown world, full of mystery and danger. Ruins to explore! Draugr to kick in the rear!"

Einar raised an eyebrow after hearing the phrase "Draugr to kick in the rear." He had seen a Draugr now. He wasn't sure they had rear ends… and even if they did, they probably would have you in a dozen severed pieces before you even got close to kicking them. "Okay… Is that seriously the reason you want to do this?" he asked, "I mean, I spent all of yesterday talking to many ponies, and all of them were terrified of the idea of going into the unknown."

Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly. "Well, it's that and because I really don't like my job situation right now. I kinda have nothing else to do but clear these stupid clouds. I tried to become a Scavenger years ago, but I failed the Ponyville certification process."

Twilight, who had been looking at Rainbow Dash in a disgruntled manner for the last couple minutes, blinked in shock. "You… _failed_ the process? If it is anything like the Canterlot one, it should have been terrifyingly easy!"

Rainbow Dash simply continued to grin sheepishly. "Welllllll… Ummmmmm… You see, I turned in the application to explore whatever is around Rambling Rock Ridge, and I was accepted. But then one of the council ponies lewdly commented as I left that I had nice hind-parts… So I kicked his."

Einar facehoofed. "Brilliant move. I mean, that is just simply brilliant. That is exactly how you are supposed to handle those situations."

"Hey," snorted Rainbow Dash, placing a hoof upon her chest in self-defense, "I didn't beat the dude up too bad! Well, I did get knocked out and dragged out afterward… But it still wasn't that bad! But now that I'm part of a team, maybe they'll let me be a scavenger now! You two gotta let me on the team!"

Einar glanced Twilight. "I guess so."

Rainbow Dash shot high into the air, did a loop-the-loop, and returned to her initial position, her face beaming with energetic joy. "So… Much… _Awesome_! I owe you two! So, tell me, where are two ponies like you planning to explore anyway?"

"The ruins of the city of Coulin!" exclaimed Twilight happily, drawn out of her perturbed state simply by the mention of the fabled city.

Rainbow Dash continued to grin, but she clearly had no comprehension of the words that just came out of Twilight's mouth. "The city of what?"

"The city of Coulin!" exclaimed Twilight. "It was a city built just before the Skyfall! According to legend it was constructed by the Konugar long after they ventured out of the great city of Manehattan!"

"I have no idea of what you are talking about," said Rainbow Dash, "But don't let that bother you! I just never paid attention to history class! Well… Not like we even had a useful history class when your teacher is telling you about stuff that happened only several years ago… But I digress! Where is this 'city of Coulin' then?"

"That's on the other side of Foal Mountain!" said Twilight readily.

At this point Rainbow Dash stopped grinning as her jaw practically hit the floor.

"What…?" In all of her wildest dreams, Rainbow Dash had never planned to go farther than a score or so kilometers past Rambling Rock Ridge. Conquering Foal Mountain was crazy. "Why _Andskotinn_ would you ever try to get to a place as far as that?"

"It's really all about the Castle of Embers," explained Einar, "Twilight and I have been trying to figure out the history behind it forever! All we have is lore! Though some of that may heavily be steeped in truth. That is what we need to find out."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "The Castle of Embers had lore?"

Einar facehoofed again, harder this time. "You didn't even know _that_?"

Rainbow Dash floated into the air and rested on her back, like she was drifting on a gentle river. "Nope! As I said, I never paid attention in history class! Why would anypony, though? There is a giant, glowing ruin in the middle of Canterlot, end of story."

Though Einar tried to stay reserved and observant most of the time, the term "end of story" was pretty much a trigger word for him. "What?!" he exclaimed, "End of story? _Bjáni_! There is a rich amount of myth behind the Castle of Embers! It took Twilight and I ten years to piece the mythos together from nothing! You see, long ago, the Lady of Dying Light lived in the Castle of Embers with her sister, the Lady of Moonstone. The two brought peace and harmony to the land of Light, the land we live in now, whatever it is we call it nowadays… I don't even think it has a name anymore aside from 'quarantined zone of the Lost World.' Anyway, the land of Light was only peaceful for so long… Soon came the dark. This force of darkness spread across the land, razing the beauty the two sisters fought to preserve! The light was no match against the dark, and soon even the brightest sparks began to wither in the face of oncoming oblivion. Desperate to escape the all-consuming void, the sisters began to look for answers in any form possible. Finally they found one in the Old Crystal King. He came from the far-off regions of Anora, a land bound in ice and snow…"

Twilight picked up the narration, as excited as Einar was to spew the knowledge they had gained over the last ten years upon any hapless ears. "… The Old Crystal King proposed an omnipotent spell to ward off the darkness, and the two sisters agreed to whatever ritual was involved…"

Then there was a pause. Twilight hesitated. "That's all we know…"

Rainbow Dash, who was actually half-listening as she was thinking of an excuse to leave the two bookworms in the dust, blinked. "Ten years… and that's it?"

Twilight's ears drooped sadly. "Yeah… Well… That's why we're going to Coulin! To learn more! So, are you in?"

Rainbow Dash wiggled a hoof in one ear. "Heck yeah! Just as long as you two don't force us to take useless history lessons."

Einar rolled his eyes. "Your loss. Well then, Rainbow Dash, to get our venture to Coulin certified, we need three more ponies on the team. Do you know of any other ponies that might be interested?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Dunno. Hey… Suppose you check with Rarity! She makes travel garbs for ponies all the time, she might know a pony! You're not going to ever find a pony like me, but you two will just have to look for someone close. Rarity lives in that boutique over there!"

Rainbow Dash pointed to a frilly building off to their left, a little deeper into Ponyville. It was brightly colored and rather innocent-looking… except for the fact that a rifle was mounted on the railing of the balcony of the top story. Other than that it looked like the home of a daring fashion designer.

"Check her out and ask!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, "_Jæja, gaman að hitta Þið_… When you need me, just call! I will be there in a lightning flash! A rainbow-colored lightning flash!"

Chuckling at her own joke, Rainbow Dash shot into the sky.

"That was… interesting," said Twilight slowly, almost as if she was in shock.

"If you look on the bright side," commented Einar, "Now we won't ever have to worry about choosing a vanguard."

Twilight shrugged. "I guess. Let's go visit this Rarity person."

The two quickly trotted to the boutique that had been pointed out by Rainbow Dash previously.

In a moment they were at the front door of the boutique. The entrance was slightly ajar, and so Einar took the liberty of nosing it open.

A light gray female Unicorn with a brilliant indigo mane and azure eyes was bustling about, using her magic to levitate rolls of leather and metal studs from one place to another.

She seemed quite absorbed with her work as she continued to mutter to herself, ignoring the little bell that range as Einar and Twilight entered the room.

"Metal spikes here… No… Not shiny enough. It lacks a certain… flare. Ah! A silk sash here! Voilà!"

"Um… Excuse me? Are you Rarity?" interjected Twilight, somewhat meekly.

"Indeed! Oh! Give me a second, dear! I'm 'in the moment' as it 'twere. I'll put this riiiggghhhttt… there. Now… How many I… OH!"

Rarity turned and her jaw dropped as she saw Twilight's frizzled mane. Einar turned away to disguise a smirk. "My dear! Your mane! Whatever happened to it?"

"This? Oh. A tornado hit it… in a sense," replied Twilight, rolling her eyes slightly, "I do apologize for my appearances. However, I just wanted to ask you a couple questions and then I will be out of your hair."

"Out of my _hair_? What about your hair?! Dear, this must be rectified! Come with me at once!"

Rarity began shoving Twilight upstairs, not having any of the purple Unicorn's arguments. Einar blinked in surprise and followed quietly, doing his best not to chuckle. Twilight found herself in front of a mirror, with the pony named Rarity combing her hair into different styles all the while shoving her into uncomfortable attire, all ranging from battle garb to explorer gear to social-gathering apparel. During every second of this Rarity talked, trying to find the perfect combination of hair and clothing.

"Too drab… Too shiny… Too green… Too purple… Too stiff… Too frilly…"

Suddenly Twilight felt her midriff being practically shoved into a tight Kevlar-lined corset. Rarity braced herself and reared back, drawing the strings of the corset back with her, drawing them in tight. Twilight gasped as she felt ever bit of air in her lungs being squeezed from her. Rarity let go and smiled.

"Perfect! You look perfect! Just take a glance in the mirror, dear! Aren't you happy?"

Twilight felt a tear squeeze out onto her right cheek as she gasped, "_Er ég ánægður_? Rather… _Aumingja mig_. I can't breathe…"

Einar just smiled, trotted over to Twilight, and undid the knots binding the corset. "If you listen very carefully, Rarity, you can hear the sound of my partner not breathing. I think that means this isn't exactly a good fit, if you know what I mean."

The corset shot open like a springtrap and Twilight took in a deep breath of air. Rarity sighed dramatically and said, "Oh, very well… Perhaps, you were correct: the corset was not the most perfect fit for her. But now go on dear, you were saying something about asking me a couple of questions?"

Twilight winced as she rubbed her squeezed chest. "Yes… You see Einar and I just came from Canterlot to…"

"Canterlot?!" exclaimed Rarity. All of a sudden she was as attentive as could be. "Truly?! My, my! The beauty! The sophistication! The glamor! I have always dreamed of going to Canterlot! Dear, you must tell me all about it!"

Twilight actually looked confused. "You want to hear about… Canterlot? Well… ummm… There is actually not much to say…"

"Whatever do you mean?!" interjected Rarity. "I have heard so much about Canterlot and the king's court! Is it true the upper class wears robes sewn completely from silver strands?!"

Einar gaped as Twilight shifted uncomfortably. "Well… No…"

Rarity did not seemed deterred in any way. "Well, no matter. Is it true that the Castle of Embers glows like a massive shell of gold?"

At this Twilight nodded vigorously. "That I know is true! Are you interested in it?"

"Indeed, my dear!" cried Rarity, "I have heard so many tales about it! I have always had an eye for beauty; and that, my dear, is an object of pure wonder. What gloriously posh creatures must have lived in that place before us?! What fashionable treasures lie within?! I become giddy simply thinking about it all!"

Twilight glanced at Einar before saying, "Well… Actually… Einar and I are forming a scavenger group to find more about the Casle of Embers."

"Indeed?!" cried Rarity, "Oh, I would dearly love to know more about the place and the contents within. You are forming a team to do so, you say? You simply must include me, my dears! I would do anything to have an excuse to someday get a peek into those ancient halls! I will even supply you with the wares for such a dangerous job!"

Einar blinked. He had not expected to be finding teammates in such odd ponies as these. "Well… Sure! You and your wares would be greatly welcomed on this venture of ours. Let's see… We have three of the five ponies we need. Hmmmm…"

Einar beckoned Twilight over to him to hold a quick whispered council.

"We have Applejack… She could be the muscle on the team. Then there is Rainbow Dash. I do believe she will be the scout," whispered Einar. "Now we have Rarity. It looks like she is the equipment technician. What other type of pony do we need now? Hmmmmm… Mayhap a pony that knows nature? Like a nature guide or something?"

"That seems like a good place to start," Twilight whispered back. "Let's ask Rarity if she knows anypony like that."

Einar and Twilight disengaged and turned to Rarity, who was waiting expectantly with bright eyes.

"You're in," said Einar, which elicited an excited squeal from Rarity. "However, as I said before we need two more ponies. Do you… do you know anypony 'in tune' with nature? We need a pony that knows plants and animals with an expert eye."

Rarity scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "Let me think about that, dear. Ummmm… I do believe I do know a pony like that. Her name is Fluttershy."

Einar cocked his head to one side. "Okay. Do you know where we might find this pony?"

Rarity nodded readily. "Indeed! She is usually near the borders of Ponyville, towards the Everfree forest side."

Einar nodded. "Thank you, Rarity. We will drop by when we have everypony we need. Thank you!"

"No, _thank you_ dear," replied Rarity, almost dreamily.

Einar blinked. "Oh… Well… Okay. Farewell. I'm just… going to go over here… way over here…"

Einar quickly turned tail and trotted out of the boutique with Twilight right behind him.

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**Translations:**

Jæja, gaman að hitta Þið. (Well, it was nice meeting you [both].)

Er ég ánægður? (Am I happy?)

Aumingja mig. (Poor me.)

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**Author's Notes. And now we have both Rainbow Dash and Rarity covered! We are almost to the end! All we have have left now is Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. It will be quite interesting to see how the introduction of the two goes down. Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, do not forget to leave a review. If you do so, I will give you a Rainbow Dash plushy. I mean seriously, who wouldn't want one of those?!**


	8. Chapter 8 - Balloons and Butterflies

**Author's Notes. Hello! 'Tis a wonderful day, is it not? Or, at least it will soon be. I hope. Mayhaps. Anyway, I am going to stop posting twice every week. I have a nice store of chapters already written, but I don't want to squander them by posting too regularly. I will resign myself to posting once every Tuesday. Oh, and as an additional note: I just finished up another chapter for "A Mending Soul" so expect an update for that soon (probably). Now on to answering some reviews!**

**To Echo Off: Regularly, I would agree with you totally that Rarity seems slightly out of character and I would usually then state that I should fix it immediately (I did fix the issue you pointed out for chapter 7, though). However, in this case, I will admit that I actually planned it to be like this. If you pay close attention, you will see that each of the Mane 7 (counting Einar) has their own agenda on what the Lost World will be like. For example, Rainbow Dash thinks it is a place full of baddies to beat the tobacco juice out of. For Rarity, she seems to think of it to be more like a pleasant outing to discover riches and fashionable treasures. Quick note: every single one of them is really, really wrong.**

**To Midnight Moon: I know who you are, Midnight Moon. Your secret identity is not safe from my all-seeing eyes (not really). I would like to point out that these ponies have silly little repeater rifles. It is a miracle that they even have such an impressive train as their military train. Don't make its engineers feel bad by bringing up Fed-issued stuff. There are thousands of ages worth of technology between the two nations! Well... that is, if you could call the Lost World survivors a nation. Oh, and here is the plushie.**

**To FocusedStream: Heh. When I saw you say "Good Chap" I spent at least a minute trying to figure out what you meant. I keep forgetting you are part of the one percent of the universe that uses the term "chap" as opposed to "chapter." Now... You want yourself some Pinkie Pie? Here! Take all the Pinkie Pies!**

**Well, that is all for now! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 8: Balloons and Butterflies**

_Year 1000, Day 6_

"Looks like someone got thrown off by that 'dazzling' mare," chuckled Twilight.

Einar shook his head as if to clear it. "What are you talking about? I haven't been more uncomfortable in my life! And what about you? I think we should be talking more about how you were almost strangled by a corset!"

"Don't try to switch the subject," said Twilight, with a sly smile. "Imagine that mane… sparkling in the sunlight…"

Einar glared at Twilight. "Well aren't you a riot? Look, let's just get this over with and find Fluttershy."

Twilight smiled. "Very well then!"

"Thank you," sighed Einar, looking somewhat relieved. He coughed once and then said, "Right. Rarity said this Fluttershy pony is usually found near the outskirts of Ponyville, near the Everfree forest. That's odd. Isn't that area walled off?"

"Most of, I would think," replied Twilight. "I guess she's not that close to the infected forest."

The two ponies rounded a cottage and the outskirts came into view. Massive concrete walls rose high into the air, stretching all around the town for as far as the eye could see. Turrets were placed at regular intervals, and guards armed with projectile weapons were seen patrolling the tops. Only the very tips of the Everfree's forest's trees were visible above the barbed wire that topped off the concrete walls. However, despite this show of power, there were massive cracks in several areas of the walls, and one section had been blown away by some massive creature. Fortunately that giant hole had been blocked off by a massive armored vehicle that stood sentinel by the breach.

"The Draugr aren't letting up for anything," murmured Einar, once again feeling uncertain about the whole Scavenger deal. Draugr had proven themselves more than capable of tearing through armored trains and thick concrete walls. Einar loathed to imagine what a Draugr could do to a pony.

Twilight was about to comment on the weathered looks of the walls when she stopped and cocked her head to one side as if to listen to something. Einar saw her do this and followed suit. His ears twitched as he heard the sounds of humming. It was sweet and soft, like a mother crooning to its children.

Einar beckoned to Twilight and began to trot towards the source of the music, which was emanating from beyond a line of scraggly bushes. The two ponies pushed their heads through the branches and saw a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and light aquamarine eyes humming to herself as she gently tended to some plants while hovering to and fro above. Most plants in this world of Draugr and Sleeping had become decaying, dying, ugly things; but not these plants. These plans actually looked healthy and happy with their care, which the yellow pony was dishing out with precision and love.

Einar glanced at Twilight and shrugged. He pulled himself out of the bush and exclaimed, "Hello there! Are you Fluttershy?"

The pony gave a squeak of shock and whirled around to stare wide-eyes at Einar and Twilight. Slowly and surely she lowered herself to the earth.

"My name is Einar and this is Twilight," continued Einar. "We just wanted… to… know… what…"

Fluttershy came to earth and stood there, looking like a deer in the headlights. Her long flowing pink mane fell over her face, and she scuffed a hoof on the ground like a child who had been caught attempting to steal a cookie from the cookie jar.

Einar wanted to facehoof again. What was with ponies freaking out whenever he said hello? Twilight tried her hoof at getting the yellow Pegasus to say something.

"Hello!" she said. "What's your name?"

"I'm… I'm… I'm Fluttershy…" mumbled the pony. However, he voice was so soft and meek that it just sounded like garbled whispering.

"Uhhhhhh… What was that?" asked Twilight, looking a little bit unsure of herself.

"My name's Fluttershy," mumbled Fluttershy again. Her voice was still completely inaudible.

"Well… Great…" said Twilight, glancing at Einar in total confusion. She had no idea what to do in this situation.

Einar put on a forced smile and began to back away. "It is clear we are making you uncomfortable, so we're just going to go now. I hope you have a great rest of your life."

Einar and Twilight began to trot away.

"That was so odd!" said Twilight to Einar. "I'm not even sure that was the right pony!"

"I guess we will just need to go ask Rarity, Applejack, or Rainbow Dash if there is a different pony around that might help us," sighed Einar.

"Did you see those plants though? They looked perfect! She really knows her stuff. I hope we can find a pony like that who is as good as that," murmured Twilight.

"And as good with Lost World animals we might come across as we travel," added Einar.

"Lost World animals?"

Though the voice was soft and meek, Einar and Twilight leapt about a meter in the air and swiftly turned about. Fluttershy was several meters behind them looking shockingly excited but also deathly embarrassed.

Einar blinked. "Well… Yeah… Soooooo, you've decided to finally talk to us then?"

Fluttershy ignored that question and persisted. "Are you two really going to go out into the Lost World?"

Twilight nodded. "Er… yeah! Why?"

Fluttershy sighed dreamily. "I've always dreamed of going there! Imagine: all those cute, adorable critters all alone in a big scary world with no one to talk to! I would just love a chance to meet one! We can talk, and cuddle, and I can take them home with me and be the best of friends!"

Einar glanced at Twilight. This looked like their chance to recruit the 'wilderness expert.'

"It looks like you might have a chance to do so with us. Ummm… But if you so desperately want to want to meet Lost World animals, why didn't you try to become a Scavenger already?"

Fluttershy scuffed her hooves again on the ground and blushed deeply. "I… I tried. But when I had to stand before the Ponyville mayor and the council… I just couldn't take it! Standing there all alone, being stared at by a council with no pony to support me… I… I… I wet myself in front of mayor. Then he and his council laughed me out."

Einar winced. "That sounds terrible. But if you were with us, I figure it wouldn't be half as bad. Are you sure you want to be with us, though? I'm mean, we technically just met…"

Fluttershy nodded, looking down at her hooves.

Einar grinned. It was odd that such a shy pony would suddenly find an interest in him and Twilight, but he was not going to question this stroke of luck. "That is wonderful. We could use the skills with the wilderness that has come recommended by Rarity. Now Twilight and I need to find one more pony before our team is complete, but when we do we will find you. Oh! And one more thing: you _are_ Fluttershy, right?"

Fluttershy nodded again, her long mane falling over her eyes once more.

Einar smiled kindly, and then beckoned Twilight to follow him. "_Blessuð_, Fluttershy. It was nice meeting you."

Twilight fairly much bounced in excitement as soon as she was out of Fluttershy's visual range. "Oooooh!" she squeaked. "We're almost done! One more pony!"

"Indeed!" said Einar readily, a big smile plastered across his muzzle. However, his smile died a little as he looked at the sky. The sky was beginning to darken and become a deep red, signifying that the day was ending. Time certainly flies when important things are in need of being completed. "Hmmm… I think it is best if we return to the house and get some rest. Tomorrow we will begin looking for our one last team member."

"If you insist," sighed Twilight, who was convinced that she didn't need sleep. She would sleep when she was dead.

Einar gently bumped her shoulder playfully and altered course, heading for their temporary abode. In a score of minutes the two ponies were trotting up to the doorstep of their "treehouse."

"Well, all in all I think today was rather productive!" declared Einar as he magically fumbled with the key and lock. "See, Twilight? Making friends isn't that hard!"

Einar compounded that last statement by unlocking the door and flinging it open. Then he and Twilight trotted in. The main room was utterly dark, and neither ponies could see a thing.

"Well… Okay… I don't remember everything being this dark, even at night," murmured Einar.

Then, suddenly, a light was flicked on, and a massive roar of voices accompanied the glaring light.

"Surprise!"

Their entire house was packed with ponies, all wearing birthday attire. In fact, the entirety of the house's interior was practically drowned in multicolored streamers and balloons.

If Einar and Twilight hadn't already suffered through a surprise Draugr Troll attack a couple days ago, the two probably would have fainted outright from the shock.

The pink pony with the tri-balloon flank markings that Einar had tried to talk to two days ago leapt in front of Einar and Twilight.

"Surprise!" cried the pink pony, putting her face directly in front of Einar's and Twilight's. "_Hæ_!_ Blessaður_! _Blessuð_! _Komdu sæll_! _Komsu sæl_! _Gott kvöld_! My name is Pinkie Pie! I'm the one who threw this party for you! Are you surprised? Huh? How about it? _Ertu_?! _Ertu_?! _Ertu_?!"

Twilight stared in utter bewilderment, before gasping out, "Well… yeah."

Einar shook his head vigorously in order to keep himself from going into shock. "Same. It's just… It's just we weren't really expecting such a blatant disregard for privacy…"

"Privacy?! Who needs that?! Privacy is just one more rule! And who needs rules?! Boooorrriiinnnggg! Anyway, I hope you really like this party! It's your very own special 'welcome to Ponyville' party! Remember that day when you went up and said 'hi' and I gasped really loud?! Remember? You see, I have never seen either of you before and if I haven't seen either of you before then that means you guys must be new! I know that become I know everypony – _og ég meina hvert hest_ – in Ponyville! And if you're new then that means you two must not have any friends and if neither of you have any friends – aside from each other, I mean, _en __þið tveir eruð ekki hluta_ – then you two must be lonely! And that made me soooo sad! And so I had this brilliant idea to throw this super-duper-alley-ooper ginormous _gegnheill_ birthday party and invited all your friends so you guys won't have to be lonely anymore!"

Pinkie Pie said this long string of words (half of it in garbled Icelandic) without taking a single breath. And as she finished this veritable waterfall of talking she took in a deep breath and leapt high into the air. At the same moment Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy all popped up behind her. Einar jerked backwards in surprise. His entire team was assembled.

"You're… you're all here," he said slowly. Then he pulled a face as he said, a little pointedly, "I only talked to them all once. They're my friends?"

"Anypony kind enough to spend time talking to a bunch of wack-o's like these guys is a friend!" snorted Rainbow Dash, motioning to her compatriots. She received a glare from Applejack in return.

"We all share common interests, yes?" prompted Rarity. "If you don't want to be going on a journey with 'friends' then perhaps you would prefer the term 'companions?' I personally prefer the idea of having a friend watch my back then simply a companion."

"Look, sugarcub," added Applejack, finishing off the conversation. "When I look at you and my older friends, I see good pony folk. If you are willing to stand by us, then we are willing to stand by you. And that is called friendship."

Einar opened his mouth to say something, but he had no words to contradict a sound statement like that. He just nodded.

Twilight – who usually came to the rescue when Einar found himself utterly speechless – smiled. "The magic of friendship, I would say. Wow. All of you came because of Pinkie Pie?"

"Of course dear!" breathed Rarity. "No pony ever refuses a Pinkie invitation!"

Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie in surprise. She had not expected that such a goofy pony as that one to hold such influence, especially in such a drab and dark world.

"Anyway, I've been following you two guys around," commented Pinkie Pie. "You know, just to see what you like to do! I couldn't help but overhear: you two are trying to gather a team to go to the Lost World?! Wowzers!"

Einar, who had finally regained a voice, glanced at Twilight and murmured, "She really meant it when she said we didn't need privacy." Despite this though, Einar's brain was working furiously. He always carefully observed his surroundings when we walked or talked. It was something he just did out of habit. He never saw hide-nor-hair of this pink pony, and yet she seemed to know exactly what was going on. Was she a ninja of some sort? It was not entirely impossible.

Pinkie Pie kept on prattling off despite that. "I really love the Lost World! Mostly because it is sooooooo drab! It needs a party to be thrown for it! It will be like a large party with balloons and cupcakes and everything! Can I join you guys? Huh?! Can I?! Can I?! Can I?!"

Einar looked at the energetic pink pony with a skeptical eye. "You don't say?" It seemed like this pony wanted to be the final team member, but he was not sure in the slightest. This Pinkie Pie seemed a bit too… well, a bit too much everything.

"I don't know," sighed Einar, "We really are not on too much of a timetable here, and I haven't had much time to ask anypony about our idea."

"Of course you did, silly!" laughed Pinkie Pie. "I followed you around, remember? You talked to every pony except Mayor Iron! And every other pony just laughed or screamed at you!"

Einr winced. He had talked to a large amount of ponies, truthfully, and all of them had thought his idea pure insanity. However, he was still reluctant to let such an over-the-top, hyperactive pony like Pinkie Pie join him and Twilight on their endeavor into the Lost World beyond.

He turned to Twilight and whispered, "Do you think we should say yes?"

"I don't know," murmured Twilight, "If it is true and you really couldn't find another pony… Hmmmm… and she does really seem to show an ability to get ponies together, and we will need that certainly. I think… I think we should."

Einar nodded. "I think you are right."

"Yipppeeee!" cried Pinkie Pie who had been carefully eavesdropping on the entire conversation.

Einar smiled a little and turned to face the team: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and himself. "Alright everyone. I do believe we have all the ponies we need to go into the Lost World and explore the ruinous city of Coulin."

The cheers of the newly assembled team mingled with the dance music that had begun to play throughout the house.

* * *

_Year 1000, Day 7_

Einar opened his eyes and looked around. He and Twilight were lying upon the bed upstairs. The entirety of downstairs was still in a state of party, with streamers and balloons strewn across every nook and cranny. Even the couch that Einar usually slept in was soaked with spilled party punch. Einar groaned slightly and rolled off the bed, flopping to the mahogany floor. He crawled to all fours and trotted downstairs, still feeling tired and a bit groggy.

"Hey there! Hi there! Ho there! It's nice to see you up!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, who was apparently still in the house. Fortunately she was there to clean up, not intrude more upon Einar and Twilight's personal lives. Faster than a Pegasus, Pinkie Pie began to sweep up crumbs and fallen balloons and streamers.

"_Góðan daginn_, how are you today?" murmured Einar, trotting over to inspect his couch. He was surprised to see that it was in good condition. Pinkie Pie must have washed out the cover.

"Juuuussssstttt dandy!" cried Pinkie Pie. "So, tell me: when are we gonna leave and go to Coulin?!"

Einar scratched the back of his head. He had to admit to himself he really never believed he would actually get this far. "Oh… Ummmm… Actually today. I have the papers all signed. All we need to do now is get those who never previously tried to be Scavengers signed, and then present our team before Mayor Iron and his council. I suppose I will do that when Twilight gets up. Eh, I should wake her now before the day gets any older. Pinkie, could you assemble the rest of the team?"

"Avengers assemble!" cried Pinkie. She shot out the door, and the door.

"Thor was always my favorite," murmured Einar to himself, still not completely awake. He trotted upstairs again and entered the bedroom. Twilight was still fast asleep. Einar gently shook her.

"Hey. Twilight. Get up please."

Twilight opened one eye and groaned. "Five more minutes."

Einar grinned. "You just blinked through the five extra minutes. Time to get up."

Twilight rolled over and lay belly-up on the bed. There she lay spread-eagle for a couple minutes. Then she mumbled something unintelligible in Icelandic and finally rolled off the bed. "Alright. I'm awake."

Einar nudged her from behind towards the stairs. "I got Pinkie to get the team. We are going to go before the mayor soon, so make yourself look presentable."

Twilight jerked awake. "That's right! Oh, I hope my coat looks alright!"

"It's fine. I'm mostly worried about your hair. It's poofy. It's even worse than when Rainbow Dash put your through her 'Rain-blow dry' experience."

Twilight looked up at her in horror. It was actually only a little frizzled. A false alarm. She looked down at Einar, glaring.

Einar continued to grin. "Well, at least you're _really_ awake now."

"_Jólasveinn_," Twilight grumbled, brushing down the frizzles.

Einar laughed and rubbed her head with a hoof affectionately, effectively mussing it up again. As Twilight quickly brushed it down again, there came a knock at the door. Einar trotted up to it and threw it open. Pinkie Pie trotted in followed by Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy.

"Avengers assembled, Fury!" cried Pinkie Pie, saluting.

Einar nodded. "Thank you! Okay, everyone. How many of you have already tried to become Scavengers?"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy raised their hooves.

"I even took the liberty to bring out my old forms again!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, showing Einar a slightly weathered set of papers.

"So did I," mumbled Fluttershy, meekly holding hers out as well, her shy face hidden by her long mane. She peeked out between long strands of pink hair.

"Right," said Einar, "Twilight and I brought ours as well, so all we need to do now is go to the Town Hall. Those who have never tried to become Scavengers will sign their papers, and then we will go before Mayor Irons. Then we can begin the journey! Let us begin!"

The seven ponies trotted out of the house decisively. However, the moment Einar was outside, he hesitated.

"Ummmm… Which way is the Town Hall? I… I have no idea."

Pinkie bounced in front of him and struck a pose. "Let us begin!' she declared in a low voice, mimicking that of Einar's. She then bounced away.

Einar pulled a face. "How droll."

He fell back beside Twilight and the group followed Pinkie. In several minutes they found themselves before a large building. It, like all the other buildings in Ponyville, was constructed of stone and wood, but it was much larger than the other cottages, and armored guards stood sentinel outside.

"Oh no… Are you another protest group?" groaned one of the guards. "Seriously. 'Pumpkin pot pies' will be back on the menu for Hal's Diner as soon as we get some pumpkins imported! So please stop whining!"

"Oh, we're not here to protest a lack of pumpkin pot pies," said Twilight brightly, "We're here to register our Scavenger team!"

The guard's jaw practically hit the floor. "You're… joking. This many of you? Isn't there, like, a rule against mass suicide or something? This is euthanasia!"

"Aren't you hilarious?" snorted Einar, "Seriously now, please let us through."

"You're funeral," murmured the guard, beckoning his comrade to step aside. "Multiple funerals."

Einar rolled his eyes and beckoned his team to trot on by. They entered the building. There was a small desk in the front room, hosted by a gray female Pegasus with bright gold, slightly misaligned eyes."

"Hey Derpy!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "Didn't know you worked at the front desk!"

Derpy smiled as she munched on a blueberry muffin. "I don't! I'm covering for Miss Cinnamon! She's out with a cold. What are you guys doing here?"

"We're registering to be Scavengers, dear!" exclaimed Rarity, "We're going to find out what is in that Castle of Embers! It is high time a pony found out what glorious treasures lie within! We must let whatever is left of the world know of the posh fashion sense that exists in that place!"

Einar and Twilight braced themselves for another "welp, you're screwed" lectures, but never received one. Instead, Derpy just smiled brightly. "That sounds exciting! I really hope you guys look out for each other! I really wish I could join you, but, you know, mail duty. I know that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have their papers already, and I am assuming that these two strangers have as well due to the fact they are levitating them beside their heads. That leaves… Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity."

As Derpy said those last three names she handed out papers (and pens) to their respective owners. There was a moment of silence as Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity sealed their lives away. As they did this, Einar trotted up to Derpy.

The gray mare graced him with a bright smile. "_Komdu sæll_!"

"Hello," said Einar, returning the smile. "I was just curious: most ponies here automatically assume we're doomed when we mention that we want to be Scavengers… But not you. Why?"

Derpy continued to smile, bright and happy. "I have faith you all… including you two strangers. I can see it in your eyes that you will all look out for each other. Sometimes it is those without the misaligned eyes who see little. I trust you guys."

Einar blinked in surprise. This mare, though young, knew much. At this moment the three ponies signing the Scavenger papers finished.

"We… are… _finished_!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly.

Derpy nodded readily. "Alright then! Just walk through the door behind me! I alerted the mayor he was having company when you all walked in."

The Scavenger team trotted past Derpy into a large circular room. It was like the king's court in Canterlot; however, it was somewhat smaller and was made of shining wood and sturdy rock. In short: it was somewhat impressive. Ironically enough, though, Rarity was the first to mutter, "Hmmm… It could use more velvet."

Mayor Iron was a sturdy male Earth Pony, with a brown coat (with black flecks in it) and iron gray mane and eyes. He leaned over to inspect the ponies before him. "Hmmmmm… You made it past the guards. That means you must have something important to say. What is it? Spit it out."

Einar collected the Scavenger forms from all of his teammates and shuffled them into a neat pile. He levitated it towards Mayor Iron's outstretched hoof and declared, "We wish to become Scavengers."

Iron's face did not twitch, but his eyes reflected alarm. "I see. Coulin? Hmmmmm… Let's see… The population of Ponyville is that… Minus these five residents… Eh, it doesn't make too much of a dent if we lose five lives. I see that you, Einar of Canterlot, have collected the proper amount of teammates for a venture beyond the solo-scavenging borders. That is good. I guess I have nothing else to do but sign the official statement declaring you all Scavengers. Please do not bring all your dead teammates back to bury them here. I think our graveyards are past capacity as it is."

Einar pointedly ignored all of Mayor Iron's innuendos toward complete and utter death and collected the signed Scavenger forms along with the official document declaring the seven ponies official Scavengers for the Hestar of Canterlot and Ponyville.

Twilight practically skipped out of the town hall. As soon as she was outside she squealed in excitement like a little filly. Einar cracked a smile, his face half-frozen in utter shock at their accomplishment. "We… we… we did it!"

"We did indeed, sugarcube," said Applejack jovially. "So… What's next?"

Einar jerked in surprise. He had never thought he would get beyond recruiting ponies for the team, let alone getting authorized. In short: he did not have the slightest idea whatsoever.

"Ummmm… Party? I'm not sure… I guess…" said Einar slowly, trying to think of their next move.

* * *

**Translations:**

Ertu? (Are you?)

... og ég meina hvert hest... (... and I mean every pony...)

... en þið tveir eruð ekki hluta... (... but you two don't count... [The actual translation is a nightmare. It took me forever to figure out the proper way to say this. Google Translate is useless. Completely.])

Gegnheill. (Massive.)

* * *

**Author's Notes. The team is assembled! And now they must prepare for their "excursion" into the Lost World! Or, at least, they should pretend to prepare. I mean, it looks like Einar had no idea he would ever make it this far, and so he never made any plans. I am betting he is wishing right now that he was as good as Twilight at making checklists. Hey, mayhaps she can help him out! Probably... Maybe not. Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, leave me a review! And because I can, if you leave a review, I will give you a cupcake from Pinkie Pie. I am sure many people have attempted to bribe you with such things, but, seriously, since when have you been bribed with a cupcake made by a nordic Pinkie Pie in a post-apocalyptic world? The answer is NEVER. So go ahead and review!**


End file.
